Oblivion is Eternal
by Tubular Fox
Summary: Oblivion Heights Boarding School is someplace no one wants to be, especially 16 year old Roxas Dereveau. It looks creepy, the people there are creepy, and apparently there was a murder there...one that's going to re-enact itself. AkuRoku, Zemyx SLASH
1. Welcome to Oblivion Heights

Hello everyone! Here is a strange fic that was thought up one night while my sister and I were RP-ing. Note to the wise; never write a murder story at midnight. Anyway, it's all Mariel Nightstalker's fault that it's up here so if you hate it, blame her. Also, a big thanks to Taiky for the correction to my horrible German. And yes, I do use a translater on my laptop.

I'm aware that this is confusing but hopefully it will get better as the story moves along. You aren't supposed to know who the three people in the begining are so if you think you're the only one who doesn't get it you're wrong. Updates will be slow and short since I am a procrastinator and only write when I'm inspired or bored, so here's you're warning in advance. Normally I don't post stuff until it's COMPLETELY done, but thanks to SOMEONE coughMARIELcough I couldn't. DX

Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney, but this plot and the dead people murders are mine and my sister's, kapish? No money is being made here.

ON WITH THE FIC!

* * *

_The moon rose into the sky, illuminating the scene below. There were three men, one standing in the doorway and the other two on the dirt road leading to the building._

_"Good work, gentlemen, that went very well," said the man in the doorway, a man with pale skin and sharp features._

_"Nothing to it," drawled one of the men on the road. He had a slight British accent, obviously a foreigner._

_"Yeah, piece of cake!" The other man on the road let out a slightly insane sounding chuckle. His dark eyes shone with glee from under his messy hair._

_"Now now," said the man in the doorway, "calm down." Pushing himself off the doorframe, he walked down the steps and joined the other men on the road. He turned to face them. "Could you wipe your hands please?"_

_"Of course," drawled the foreigner, drawing out a handkerchief._

_"Why?" asked the dark eyed man._

_"Because I said so."_

_"Fine," sighed the dark eyed man, slicking his hair back with both hands. "Good?" The man from the doorway wrinkled his nose._

_"That's disgusting." A shadow passed over the moon, cloaking everything in darkness. As the shadow lifted, the foreigner tossed his handkerchief down on the road behind them and turned his back on the building._

_"Shall we go?" he asked._

_"Of course," answered the pale man. The dark eyed man just turned to give the building one last look and broke into a quiet chuckle._

_"So long, fools."_

_The three men started down the road as the moonlight wound its way past them, illuminating the bloody handkerchief on the ground._

Roxas woke with a start, breathing heavily.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" asked his mother. "Bad dream?"

"No," Roxas replied. Actually, before night had fallen in his dream the world had been very pleasant.

"Well, I'm glad you're up. We're here!" Roxas looked out the window at his new school, Oblivion Heights Boarding School for Gifted Children, and swallowed. Even in the sunlight the place would look menacing. The grey stone walls were weathered and old, lending truth to the plaque at the gate.

Oblivion Heights Boarding School

Founded in 1958

Vergessen ist ewig

Vergessen ist ewig? What did that mean? Roxas stared through the rain at the dismal school; contemplating what it could possibly mean and watching the raindrops slide down the window. They pulled up in front of the school and saw a young looking man with silver hair, wearing a black suit, standing in the doorway. Something about the scene struck an odd chord in his mind. The doorway looked…familiar. But that was silly.

Roxas watched his mother get out of the car to talk to the man – the principal, Roxas assumed – and turned his attention out over the grounds. This place was enormous! There was even supposed to be a bridge—what was that? There was a man, or woman, running across the grounds in a black cloak. Curiosity building, Roxas got out of the car.

"Mom, I'll be right back, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Roxas took off after the person.

The rain dripped down the back off Roxas's neck as he followed the person into the woods. For about five minutes, they just walked. Then, the person stopped at a decrepit fountain in what once must have been a clearing. Now it was overgrown with weeds and vines. The person just stood there staring down into the fountain. Unable to stop himself, Roxas walked quietly up behind the person and tapped them on the shoulder. The person whipped around and Roxas could see that it was a young man, maybe 2 years older than him. The young man took off his hood eyes never leaving Roxas.

Shocking red hair stuck out in wet porcupine spikes over vivid green eyes. Under the man's eyes were black upside-down triangles; tattoos?

"Hey," Roxas said, trying to calm the man down. He looked like he had just seen a ghost!

"Are you going to tell me how you died?" the man asked, staring intently at Roxas's face.

"What?" asked Roxas. "I'm not dead!" The man just stared at him. "What!"

"What year is it?" the man asked, eyes never once leaving Roxas.

"2008," Roxas answered slowly. Obviously this man was crazy. The crazy man's shoulders relaxed.

"Oh, okay." He looked Roxas up and down and then turned back to the fountain.

"…What are you looking at?" Roxas asked, coming to stand next to the crazy man. "I'm Roxas Dereveau, by the way."

"Axel Sparks," the man, Axel, replied. Roxas nodded and turned back to the fountain. "You can't see it?

"See what?" asked Roxas, looking closer.

"If you can't see it, then I'm not going to tell you," Axel replied. Roxas sighed and gave the fountain one last look. And there it was, the severed head. Roxas screamed and stumbled backward until his back hit a tree.

"What-what is that?" he whispered, gesturing wildly toward the fountain.

"So you _can_ see it?" asked Axel, looking grimly amused. "This is a first. Well, see you around, kid."

"Wait!" Roxas shouted, but with a wave, Axel was gone. Creeping cautiously back to the edge of the fountain and peering over, Roxas looked for the head. But like Axel, the head, too, was gone.

-----------------

"Roxas? Roxas!" His mother's shouts brought him out of his reverie, making him jump.

"Over here Mom!" he shouted, and got up. Brushing the dirt off the seat of his pants, he leaned against the tree until he got feeling back into his legs.

"Roxas?"

"Coming Mom! Give me a sec!" As Roxas walked slowly back to his mother, not feeling the rain anymore, he thought. There had been a head in the fountain, he'd been sure of it. But he couldn't tell anyone because it wasn't there anymore. People would think he was crazy. Maybe he was. Maybe all of this change was getting to him. New town, new house, new school, new friends… Yeah, that was probably it. There never was a head in that fountain.

Roxas appeared back at the car and was faced with a worried mother and a rather amused looking principal.

"Hello Roxas, my name is Xemnas Oblivion and I'm the principal here at Oblivion Heights." The principal extended his hand out to Roxas. Roxas took it and answered:

"I'm Roxas Dereveau, sir. Pleased to meet you."

"And you," Mr. Oblivion said in reply. "I take it you received a schedule in the mail?" Roxas nodded. "Good. Would you like a guide to your dorm? The number is 130."

"No thank you, sir. I think I'll try on my own if it's not a problem."

"Not a problem at all. I'll leave you to it. Good day." And the principal walked back into the school. Roxas's mother turned to him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Keep your chin up, Roxas. It won't be so bad here. I'm sure you'll make a lot of new friends." She sniffled a little and Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Mom I—"

"Do you have everything you need from the car?"

"Yes, but—"

"Your toothbrush?"

"Yes."

"Clean underwear?"

"Mom!"

"You'll write every weekend?"

"Yes, Mom, and I'll call and visit, too. You're not getting rid of me that easily." Standing there in the rain with his mother, there was nothing Roxas wanted more than to get back in the car and leave this place behind. There was something evil about this place, a bad feeling he couldn't shake. The man by the fountain, Axel, had looked so haunted…

A sudden hug shook him out of his thoughts and he returned it full force. At that moment there was nothing else besides Roxas and his mother, his one last comfort. But she pulled away and the feeling was back.

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, Mom."

She kissed him on the cheek, hugged him again, and got in the car.

"Bye, sweetheart. I love you!" she called as she drove down the drive.

"Love you, Mom!" he called, and waved at her until the car turned the corner and he lost sight of it.

He was acutely aware of the gate shutting and locking, the rain pelting down on him from far above, the pressing feeling of _wrong_ that this whole place was giving off, and above all, the intensity of his own loneliness. He sighed and gathered his things. Dorm 130, here comes Roxas.

-----------------

Roxas's roommate was a bit of a handful. Roxas had first met him (and subsequently his boyfriend) in the common room, where his roommate had enthusiastically introduced them both.

"Hey! You must be the new kid! Ro—Rok—um...Roxas? Roxas, right? Am I right?"

"Y-yeah," Roxas replied, looking a little shaken.

"Stop it Demyx, you're scaring him." The voice came from a blue haired man who was sitting on the floor next to the couch Demyx was sitting on.

"I'm not scaring him Zexion. Look, he's not scared. You're not scared, right?" He looked at Roxas with big, pleading eyes. In spite of himself, Roxas laughed.

"No, I'm not scared. Soooo, which one of you is my roommate?"

"Me!" exclaimed the excitable blonde on the couch. "Demyx Rodriguez, at you service. And this is my boyfriend, Zexion." The blue haired man nodded to Roxas and turned back to his book.

"I'm Roxas Dereveau, but you obviously already knew that. So you're my roommate Demyx?"

"Yep! Our room is that one, on the left. That room, over there is Zexion's and Marluxia's."

"Marluxia?" asked Roxas cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah, he's a pink haired German-speaking weirdo. He speaks Japanese, but he just…doesn't. He's not around much. Anyway, pile your stuff in there and I'll show you around!" Roxas did as he was told, had his wrist seized by Demyx, and found himself being pulled along down the hallway. Demyx was going so fast he almost tripped on his black cloak. …Black cloak? Wait a minute! Roxas stopped walking and turned to take a closer look at Demyx.

"Do you know Axel Sparks?" he asked.

"Huh? Axel? Sure I know Axel! You've met him already?"

"Yeah, we kinda ran into each other outside. He asked me if I was going to tell him how I died…"

"Really?" Demyx laughed nervously, an odd look overtaking his features. A moment later the look was gone and Demyx was smiling again. "Yeah, he's weird like that. Anyway, let's go over here!" And Roxas was pulled off down the hallway, a bit more forcefully than before.

-----------------

"And this is the ballroom! I mean cafeteria/auditorium. Heh heh."

"This was a ballroom?" Roxas asked, peering around.

"Yeah," said Demyx. "At least that's what they told me." Demyx bit his lip and looked around as if was expecting someone to jump out at him.

"What who told you?"

"Uh…you know, the principal and the kids and stuff. Heh…heh." Demyx rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Something wrong?" asked Roxas, noticing Demyx's discomfort.

"What?! Oh, no, nothing's wrong… Hey kid, I'll race you to the other side!" Roxas was surprised by the sudden change of subject but responded eagerly to the challenge.

"Your on."

In the end, Demyx won. Long legs were good for something, after all.

"Whoo!" Demyx panted after slapping the wall. "You're pretty fast for a little guy!"

"Your not too bad yourself," Roxas gasped.

"Nah, I can't beat Axel yet. He's a tall bugger. And really skinny."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed. A comfortable silence settled over them as they caught their breath.

"Ready to move on?" Demyx asked suddenly, looking up with a slightly panicked look in his eye.

"Sure," Roxas answered. He looked around. "Did it get colder in here?"

"Yeah, uh, let's go." Demyx took one step forward and the door to the outside flew open, wind suddenly howling fiercely through the opening. There was a shout of "Get down, Roxas!" as sticks began to fly inside.

"Demyx!"

And Axel was there, pulling Roxas down behind a fallen table.

"Stay here kid, and don't move."

"O-okay," Roxas said. "What's going on?"

"Just a bit of wind, nothing else. Got it memorized?" Roxas nodded, not being able to find his voice. Axel got up and pulled back his hood. "Keep your head down." Roxas was struck by how beautiful Axel was, an almost wild beauty. He only had a second to think about it before Axel was gone, out into the ferocious wind. The wind carried words back to Roxas, snippets of conversation.

"Axel thank God—"

"—worry Demyx, I can—"

"I would have, but Roxas—"

"There it is."

A howl unlike any he had ever heard filled Roxas's ears and he clamped his hands down over them. It _hurt_. Axel and Demyx were in the middle of that?! Roxas maneuvered himself into a sitting position, turning to look over the edge of the table. He only got a brief look at what it was standing in the doorway because a stick was hurdling at his face, but he had seen enough. It—it didn't have skin. Fighting the bile rising in his throat, Roxas slid down and leaned against the table, hand pressed to his mouth. After a few minutes the howling stopped and the wind died down.

"Thanks for helping me close the doors, Axel," Demyx grinned, coming around the table to sit by Roxas.

"No problem," Axel replied, putting something back around his neck. A rosary? "You okay kid?

"What—what was that?" Roxas choked out after a minute. Demyx and Axel exchanged a look.

"Just a bit of wind," they answered at the same time.

"Got it memorized?" Axel added. He and Demyx began to laugh. Roxas chuckled weakly.

"Nice try." Axel and Demyx looked at him with the same expression, a guarded mixture of confusion, worry, and warning.

"See you around, kid," Axel said. "Bye, Demyx." And with the same small wave, Axel disappeared down the hallway.

"Seriously, Demyx, what was that? It didn't have any skin…" Demyx chuckled, but it sounded forced.

"Wind," he said in a voice that left no room for argument. "Now come on, I want to show you the entrance hall."

-----------------

Roxas couldn't sleep that night. Every time he closed his eyes or drifted off he would be whisked away to where he didn't want to be.

_The hallway stretched out before him, dark and silent. The only noise was a 'drip, drip' that seemed to follow him as he crept down the hall. He didn't know why he was creeping, just that he had to be quiet. His feet made no noise on the carpet as he walked, but a loose floorboard creaked and his head snapped up. There was someone there! His hand shot up toward the person and as the knife scratched the glass he realized that it was his reflection. He was looking in a mirror. He sighed, and lowered the knife, studying his reflection. Thoughts sprang to his mind unbidden. Why was he doing this? What if Victor hadn't been—? No. He had been. With _her_. It was the truth. _

_He wiped angrily at the tears that had begun to fall, leaving streaks on his face. He looked harder at his reflection. The bags under his eyes stood out starkly against his pale skin, as did the streaks of blood. Suddenly he turned away, the sight of the blood making his stomach churn. He dropped the knife on the floor and headed into the nearest room._

_Taking off his shirt, the man turned on the faucet and scrubbed his hands until they were raw and painful. Grabbing a towel out of the linen closet he wet it and roughly washed his face, ridding himself of the blood. Then he went into the bedroom and over to the closet. Flinging the doors open he looked for something in his size. He was lucky, and found black pants and a white button down shirt that fit rather well. Next he went over to the vanity, viciously taking a comb off the table and tugging it through his hair. The reflection of the well-dressed, presentable man in the mirror mocked him until he picked up a book from the table and threw it, breaking the glass._

_Breathing heavily, the man stared at the fragments. His eyes stung as he stood there, watching them fall onto the table and carpet. Clink, clink, clink. Victor's words rang in his mind:_

"_You look very handsome tonight, Jonathan." "Dance with me Jonathan, you don't look like you're having much fun!" And finally, the last thing he had ever heard his lover say._

"_Why are you doing this to me, Jonathan?"_

_He grabbed a coat out of the closet and ran out of the room, past the bloody knife, and past the room where his love lay dead. He ran until he reached the front door and stopped. Straightening up and composing himself, he opened the door and spilled moonlight into the otherwise dark hall. Stepping out, he closed the door behind him and leaned against the doorframe, facing his two companions. He had to say something._

"_Good work gentlemen, that went very well."_

Roxas's eyes snapped open. Holy Hell, why did this keep happening?! Roxas rubbed his hand across his face and rolled over, facing Demyx's bed. …Demyx's bed without Demyx in it. For a moment, he just stared. Then he remembered that Demyx had said he'd be sleeping in Zexion's room tonight and tried to calm his heartbeat down. Why was he so scared? Honestly, this was ridiculous. Roxas flipped onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow. After about 15 minutes of all but suffocating himself he turned onto his back and put his hand across his eyes.

He lay like this for more than 3 hours, telling himself that it wasn't because he was afraid to go back to sleep, only that he wasn't tired. Not long after trying to convince himself of this, Roxas's eyes started to slip shut. Against his will, he felt sleep overtake him.

_The hallway stretched out before him, dark and silent—_

----------------

Meanwhile, as the moon rose higher into the sky, it shone light down on a gathering of people in the courtyard of the school.

"Roxas can see them too. He's one of us! We should start training him right away!"

"No, it's too dangerous. Dangerous for him, dangerous for us."

"It's even more dangerous for him, _and_ us, if we don't teach him!"

"Don't argue with me, Demyx."

"I can't believe I actually _have_ to argue about this with you, Zexion!"

"Don't forget your place, _novice_."

"Oh, so you want to play _that_ card, do you?" Well fine! I'm leaving, and I'll train him myself!" Silence reined in the clearing as 11 heads in identical black hoods turned to face him.

"Nein, du kannst es nicht alleine tun,1" a new voice spoke.

"He's right you know," said a slightly higher voice, female. "Even if you do manage to convince him to become a Member, how are you going to train him? You don't even know everything yet!"

"Thank you," Zexion said, looking pointedly at Demyx. "Sit down, Demyx." Demyx remained standing, looking defiant.

"Jedoch stimmen wir nicht zu das er keinen Schutz braucht.2"

"Exactly," the female voice said, nodding. "They go for anyone who can see them."

"I have no idea _what _he just said," said a voice from the other side of the circle, "but I think training this kid would be fun."

"Thanks, Axel."

"No problem, Demyx. You can even train him if you want, I'll just watch and help here and there."

"Sweet! Thanks Axel!" Axel just smiled and pulled his hood down.

"When do we start?"

"No! Demyx, as your mentor and lover I forbid you from doing this!"

"Why Zexion? Give me one good reason."

"Because training new exorcists is _dangerous!_" he finally exploded, glaring at Demyx. "And—and I don't want you to get hurt," he finished quietly, looking away. Demyx's eyes filled with tears and he hugged Zexion.

"I'll be okay, Axel will help me. You should help, too. You can train both of us at the same time!"

"I'll help," said another voice

"Yeah, me too," another piped up.

"I will do my best to make sure Mr. Dereveau has the best training available," said Xemnas rising.

"As will I," said vice-principal Saix.

"Ich möchte helfen, auch.3"

"Yeah, I wanna help, too!" the female voice said, nodding.

"Really? Thanks Marluxia! Thanks Larxene! Thank you all!" Demyx said. "We'll start tomorrow!"

* * *

1 "No, you cannot do it alone."

2 "We do not agree, however, that he does not need protection."

3 "I would like to help, also."

* * *

That wasn't too bad, was it? I really hope not... Anyway, the deal with Marluxia is this: He was born in Germany and lived there until he was 12. Then his family moved to Japan (that's where this story takes place, and even though I am typing in English, they are speaking Japanese) and he was sent to Oblivion Heights. He refused to speak what he believed to be a terrible language, learned it but didn't speak it, so his roomates either learned German or got a phrase book. Larxene is the only one who speaks fluent German besides Marly. Better now?

Please review, and I'll try to post new chapters...sometime.


	2. Now is The Time

Here it is, the second chapter of Oblivion is Eternal. This is what you've all been waiting for! ...I hope. There's a lot of background in this chapter, so I apologize if it's a little talky.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, that pleasure belongs to Square Enix and Disney. I am not making money off this fic, it's for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

Warnings: Ummm...dead people? What do you want me to say?

Once again, a BIG thanks to Taiky for the German. You're awesome Taiky! And to my friend Mariel and my sister Caitlin, thank you for prodding me into posting this.

NOW ON WITH THE FIC!

* * *

Roxas woke to the screaming of his alarm clock at 7:10 am.

"Christ," he groaned, smacking it. The shrill beeping stopped and Roxas buried his face in his pillow with a sigh of relief. He was almost asleep again when—

"Roxas! _Hey! Roxas!_" Demyx burst into the room with a happy grin on his face, towing a smirking Axel and a reluctant-looking Zexion. Roxas nodded to Zexion, figuring that Demyx had woken him up as well.

"Good morning," he said with a smile. Zexion gave him a terse nod and a mumbled "Good morning" back and turned his attention to Demyx.

"Are you going to tell him or shall I?" Zexion asked in a rather annoyed voice.

"I will!" Demyx exclaimed, beaming first at Zexion, then at Roxas. "Your training starts today!" Silence settled over the room as Roxas raised an eyebrow and Axel stifled a snicker, hiding it behind a cough.

"My…what?"

"Training silly! Your training to become an exorcist!" If Roxas had been drinking anything, he would have spit it out. Instead, he just looked between the smiling Demyx and the serious Zexion and started to laugh.

"You guys are crazy. Exorcist training? Was is this, some kind of joke you play on the new kids?" Still chuckling, he slipped out of bed and walked over to his dresser. He fished around in it, fully expecting them to go away until he heard:

"We're being completely serious." Incredulously, Roxas turned to stare at Zexion. At the look on his face, Axel didn't even try to stop his snickering. He received a sharp elbow to the ribs and a "You're not helping, Axel," from Demyx as Roxas just continued to stare. Finally he sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, I'll bite. What makes you think I could be an exorcist?" Roxas nearly snorted when he said that. The notion was ridiculous! Perhaps he should file for a room change; Demyx seemed like a persistent one. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that Demyx's answer caught him completely off guard.

"Because you can see them, too." Roxas's head shot up so fast he heard his neck crack. Axel winced sympathetically and Roxas distractedly rubbed at the slight pain, staring at Demyx. Demyx looked unusually serious as he looked at Roxas.

"See what?"

"Ghosts, spirits,_dead people_; whatever you want to call them." Roxas now turned his head to look at Axel.

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

"Ghosts, got it memorized? You're special like us."

"You're special alright," Roxas grumbled under his breath. Louder he said, "You're all crazy. Now will you let me get ready for school?" Demyx looked crestfallen and he turned towards the door. Roxas felt guilt twinge in his chest. He opened his mouth…and shut it again. Finally he just sighed and called out to Demyx. "This is your room, too, you know. You don't have to leave." At least Demyx looked slightly happier.

Roxas unashamedly pulled off his shirt and changed into the school uniform; gray slacks with a white button-down shirt, a gray jacket with the school crest and motto stitched onto the pocket, and a black tie.

"God, I look weird. I look like a prep!"

"You get used to it," Demyx said, not making any effort to change into his uniform. Instead, he just zipped his black cloak up higher and flopped down on his bed. Roxas grabbed his books and headed toward the door.

"Aren't you coming?" Demyx looked up.

"Nah, I'm suspended until Thursday." Roxas just shook his head with a smile.

"See you around then." Roxas walked out into the main room, past the small kitchenette and the pink-haired man at the table. Wait, pink-haired man? Oh yeah, this must be Marluxia. Said pink-haired person looked up.

"Ah, Guten Morgen1, Roxas," he said with a smile and turned back to his food. Roxas looked up and smiled.

"Guten Morgen, Marluxia." Marluxia's smile widened and he turned to face Roxas completely.

"Du sprichst Deutsch?2"

"Nicht sehr gut3," Roxas confessed, messing up a little on the pronunciation.

"Das ist bedauerlich4," Marluxia sighed, looking a little disappointed.

"I…uh…have to get to class now," Roxas said, abandoning German for moment. Realizing what he'd just done, he blushed and looked down, stuttering out and apology. Marluxia just laughed and said what Roxas assumed to be 'It's alright' or 'Don't worry.' "Es war schön mit dir zu sprechen5," Roxas said, trying to control his blush. God, he was so embarrassed!

"Einen schönen Tag noch6," Marluxia said, chuckling at the slightly lost look on Roxas's face. He waved amiably to get his point across to the boy and realization dawned on Roxas's face. He waved back and slipped out of the dorm.

"He's a cute kid," Zexion said, leaning in the doorway he'd just come through. Marluxia 'hm'ed in agreement and sipped his coffee.

"He also doesn't believe in exorcists," Axel said from behind Zexion. "He said—move Zexion, you're in my way—" Axel gently shoved Zexion out of the way and continued. "He said that we're crazy. Can you believe that?" Marluxia raised an eyebrow and chuckled. It looked like training this boy was going to be a _lot_ of fun.

-----------------

Roxas's day had been going pretty normally until 5th period. 5th period was his Social Studies/History class. It was also the class he shared with Axel. Normally, Roxas looked forward to 5th period; the teacher, Mr. Strife, was cool, and the work was easy. What more could he possibly want? But now he had to deal with a possible psycho at the desk behind him. Not cool.

As he entered the class—late—Mr. Strife didn't say anything, just gestured to his seat with a stern look. Yeah, Roxas definitely liked Mr. Strife. He almost forgot about Axel behind him until the wad of paper hit him in the back of the head. Roxas looked quickly at Mr. Strife, checking to make sure he was still focused on the board, and turned in his chair to face Axel.

"What is your problem?" he hissed, glaring at Axel, who wasn't looking up. After a few seconds, Axel glanced at Roxas and replied with a very intelligent "Huh?" and a confused expression.

"What are you talking about kid?" Axel asked, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"You threw a paper ball at me!" Roxas ground out, temper flaring. Axel's eyes narrowed further, growing angry as well.

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did _not!_" Axel's voice rose slightly in volume and the people in the desks around them started to take interest in the conversation. Roxas sighed, releasing his frustration. …Or most of it anyway.

"If you didn't, who did?" Axel looked a bit taken aback, but after a quick tip of his head to the right he answered,

"He did." Roxas glanced over to where Axel had indicated, but there was no one there.

"Very funny," Roxas spat and turned around in his chair—started to, at least. As he turned around, Axel's books went flying off his desk all by themselves. Roxas had seen it; Axel hadn't touched them. They'd flown on their own. And the strange thing was that no one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Sorry, sir," Axel said as he bent down to pick up his books. Mr. Strife just nodded and turned back to the board.

"Please don't let it happen again, if at all possible Mr. Sparks. Mr. Dereveau, if you wouldn't mind," the teacher said, making a vague gesture with his hand towards the mess of Axel's schoolbooks. With a sigh, Roxas leaned over to help Axel gather his things.

As he reached for the last pencil, something odd happened. It rolled—all by itself—into a shadow off to the right of Axel's desk. With a strong air of irritation, he made to get up and retrieve it. Then a thought hit him: the row he and Axel were in was right in the middle, nothing around to cast shadows. Curiously, he glanced up…and wished he hadn't. There was a man. …Dead. _Hanging from the ceiling._ Roxas did them only thing he could think of: he screamed and fell off his chair.

_That_ sure got everyone's attention.

Mr. Strife spun around and looked for the source of the noise, quickly finding it to be Roxas, who was now scrambling backward away from…something. An invisible fiend, perhaps? Interesting. The young Dereveau boy scrambled and slid until his back hit a desk, breath coming in short, frightened gasps. The rest of the class stared at him in shock. Mr. Strife was the first to break the silence.

"Mr. Sparks, if you wouldn't mind, could you please escort Mr. Dereveau to the nurse's office? It appears coffee and lack of sleep are catching up to him." Axel nodded and pulled the shaking Roxas up by the elbow.

"Come on, kid, this way. Just keep walking this way." Roxas did as he was told, but kept glancing back over his shoulder at a spot just right of Axel's desk.

-----------------

Axel had been listening to that guy talking since before 5th period had started. Seeing them was bad enough, but on the occasion they _talked_, it was 10 times worse. 10 times worse than nails on a chalkboard. This guy was worse than most of the others.

It had started out as just whispers, quiet mumbles in the back of his mind. They had grown louder as he crossed the threshold of room, turning into quiet chatter. Finally it had stopped and Axel had breathed a sigh of relief.

Then the paper ball had hit Roxas in the back of the head. What the—? Then the talking started again, louder and clearer.

"_Kid, hey kid! Hey Blondie! Kid, hey, pay attention! You're the one they're looking for right? Hey Blondie!"_ And then Roxas had turned around. Axel's breath had momentarily caught in his throat; could Roxas hear it? Having a talker as your first paranormal experience wasn't pleasant. But Roxas had just accused him of throwing the paper, argued, and turned around. Then the spook knocked Axel's books off his desk and Roxas had finally seen him. Maybe Zexion was right; being around others with 'the sense' as they liked to call it enhanced spiritual ability. Axel decided to talk to him later, but first he had to help the kid.

"Roxas?" The kid's head shot up, eyes lit up with a sort of primal fear. "It's okay, kid. It's just me, Axel. Got it memorized?" After a few moments of tense silence, Roxas began to relax.

"What—what was that?" he asked, wrapping his arms around himself.

"A spirit," Axel replied, placing a soothing hand on Roxas's shoulder. "Do you believe me now?" Roxas let out a shaky breath.

"Yeah. Is that training still available?"

-----------------

Fifteen minutes later, Axel, Roxas, Marluxia, Demyx, and Zexion were assembled in the dorm room, preparing to begin the training process. Axel sat next to a still too pale Roxas, trying to provide comfort. He cleared his throat.

"Soooo…who wants to start?" The other exorcists looked at each other.

"I think Zexion should start, I guess." Demyx said after a while. "He does have seniority, after all." Marluxia nodded; the kid wouldn't understand anything he said anyway.

"Fine with me," Axel said, pressing his shoulder to Roxas's, hoping he could spread some calm. Zexion nodded, taking a seat in the arm chair across from Roxas.

"Let's start at the beginning, shall we? Welcome to the Organization, a secret group of exorcists trained here to protect the school. Something about this place draws spirits like crazy, even more are showing up for some reason this year." The other two members nodded in agreement. "The Organization was founded at the same time the school was. As far as we know, we are the only group of this magnitude in Asia.

"Originally, the school was founded exclusively to train exorcists such as yourself and the rest of us. In fact, there have only been 'normal' people here for 15 years, once Xemnas inherited the school." At Roxas's lost expression, he paused.

"Xemnas?" Roxas asked, confused.

"Mr. Oblivion," Zexion clarified, glad that the only thing that confused Roxas so far was the name of the principal. "Anyway, the Organization. There are thirteen members if we include you. They are: Marluxia, Axel, Demyx, and myself, Luxord, Larxene, Vexen, Xigbar, Xaldin, Principal Xemnas, Vice-Principal Saix, Lexeaus, and you. Any questions so far?" Roxas mutely shook his head.

"I've got a question," Axel piped up. Zexion turned to face him.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to tell him the _entire_ history of the Organization, or get on with the important stuff? He can learn the rest of it later." Zexion sighed, but Axel _did_ have a point.

"Fine. Tools of the trade are simple. You will be receiving your cloak soon; it acts as an all-purpose late slip and get out of class card. But _do not_ abuse this, do you hear me?" Roxas nodded, shrinking away from the fierce expression of Zexion's face. "Good. Next is your rosary."

"Rosary?" Roxas asked. "But I'm not Catholic."

"Neither am I," Demyx said, pulling a silver rosary out of his shirt. The first 5 beads on the left side of the crucifix were black. Roxas cocked his head to the side sending a questioning look to Zexion. Zexion smiled.

"We're getting to that." He pulled out his own rosary, slipping it off his neck and handing it to Roxas. The first 3 decades were black. Demyx let out a low whistle.

"Wow Zex, you've been busy."

"Not all of us can slack off, Demyx." Demyx blushed, and Roxas grew even more puzzled. Noticing his expression, Marluxia tapped Zexion's shoulder and sent a pointed glance Roxas.

"Right. In simple terms, when you exorcize a ghost, a bead on your rosary turns black. Okay?"

"Got it," Roxas affirmed, regaining some of his lost color.

"Good. Now to exorcize a ghost, you take your rosary in hand, stick it in the ghost and say—"

"Vergessen ist ewig," Roxas finished. Everyone looked surprised.

"Yeah," Demyx said. "How did you know that?" Roxas smiled and began to explain his thought process.

"Well, it's simple really. You said that the school was founded to train exorcists right? So I figured the school motto had something to do with the exorcists. And what better way to help the newbies remember the phrase than to make it school motto?" Zexion looked very pleased, and Axel, Demyx, and Marluxia looked slightly awed.

"Very good. You're sharp," Zexion said fondly. "It took Demyx two weeks to figure it out. In the end I had to drag him out to the front gate and stand him right in front of the plaque. And even then it took him a while." Everyone laughed; it felt good to laugh after what had happened.

"Yeah," Demyx said. He wouldn't teach me anything else until I figured it out either." Axel chuckled some more.

"He made Demyx sleep outside in front of the sign for two days until he finally got it, too."

"Really?" Roxas asked, imagining Demyx sitting outside in before the sign, trying to figure out why the hell Zexion had brought him out there and snickering some more.

"Yeah, well, it took Axel a while to figure it out too!" Demyx protested, pointing an accusing finger at the red-head.

"Now now, calm down you two," Zexion chided. "We have to get back on track. On the subject of the rosary; it can't just be any old rosary, it has to be silver. We'll get you one, so don't worry about it. There are some neat tricks you should know. One, it should ward off nightmares and warn you if you're near a malicious spirit. And two, if you ever get into trouble, all you need to do is take a hold of the crucifix and say "Help.""

"What will that do?" asked Roxas.

"Well, if you do that, the exorcist rosary that's nearest to you will heat up, alerting its wearer to the danger. Your name and location will appear on the back of their crucifix and they will come to help you. See, watch." Zexion stood up and motioned for Demyx and Marluxia to step away. Axel handed Roxas his rosary.

"Watch this," he grinned.

Zexion took his rosary's crucifix in hand and brought it to his lips.

"Help."

Axel's rosary began to heat up. Roxas flipped the crucifix over and there, inscribed in the silver was "Zexion, 2A 130." Demyx pointed to the words.

"This means that Zexion needs help, second floor of building A, room 130. Cool huh?" Roxas nodded in amazement. That was sweet!

"Any questions now?" Zexion asked, taking a seat in the armchair again.

"No," Roxas answered, shivering as Axel's fingers brushed his when he gave the rosary back. "Wait, yeah, I do have a question. What does 'Vergessen ist ewig' mean, anyway?" Zexion smiled.

"Oblivion is eternal."

-----------------

Axel was surprised at how quickly Roxas was learning. He was like the star pupil Zexion had always wanted. They spent a lot of time alone together, studying and learning. But Roxas still wasn't allowed to exorcize spirits yet. With all the time Roxas spent holed up with Zexion, Axel was surprised that Demyx wasn't getting jealous. Instead, he seemed very happy, almost _too_ happy. What a strange guy.

As Roxas came out of Zexion's room, talking animatedly with the owner of said room, Axel's teeth clenched, his fingers tightening around the handle of his coffee mug. Wait a minute, what? He wasn't jealous, was he? No way. Axel Sparks was not jealous of ZexionYoshibara for the time he spent with Roxas. No way in hell. He barely knew the kid! There was no way he was jealous. He just wanted to know the kid better, okay? And run his fingers through his soft hair and kiss h—no! Nothing like that! He just wanted to know the kid in a _purely platonic_ way. Really.

-----------------

5th period was still a slightly disturbing time for Roxas, considering what had happened not long ago. Axel gave the kid points for showing up at all. Mr. Strife looked up when the door opened, but didn't say anything when Roxas came through, dressed in his new black Organization cloak. Axel's mouth went dry. The kid looked absolutely _gorgeous_ in—no, bad thoughts to have in class, Axel. Think of Xigbar in a tutu! All that did was make him laugh, though, and Mr. Strife sent him a weird look.

"Sorry, sir," he chuckled, waiting for the mental image to pass. Roxas was looking at him oddly, too, but let the moment pass in silence. He sat down and pulled out his book.

"Axel, what page are we on?" Roxas asked suddenly.

"297," Axel replied after jumping slightly at the unexpected question—not that he'd tell anyone about it or anything.

"Thanks," Roxas said, flipping to the page.

"Alright class," Mr. Strife said, getting everyone's attention. "Since we're doing a unit on the history of this house, I think it's time that we move on to what you all will think is the most interesting part; the murder." Roxas, who had been copying the notes on the board, froze. Apparently Zexion hadn't gotten to that part in the history yet. Axel leaned forward in his seat until his mouth was right next to Roxas's ear.

"Don't worry kid, in all the years I've been here no murdered party guests have ever shown up. It'll be fine." Axel felt Roxas shiver, but couldn't tell if it was from fear or…something else. He slid back into his own chair and shook his head to clear it. The kid was just scared, that was all.

Roxas tried to keep his breathing steady. Axel had been so _close_, right next to his ear and it would have been so easy to—no. Axel was just concerned about him, that was all. And besides, he didn't like Axel right? He was only his friend and he barely knew the guy! So why was his face red?

-----------------

About halfway through the period, the hanging man came back. That was the problem with ghosts; they never stayed in one place if you left them alone. Axel had just hoped he would stay away longer.

"_Kid, hey kid! Hey Blondie! Pay attention!" _Roxas stiffened, his shoulders tensing. He couldn't hear it, could he? Axel silently prayed that he couldn't. But Roxas's head was slowly turning to glance to the right of Axel's desk.

The dead man was wearing a terrible, crooked grin that sent shivers down Roxas's spine. God that was creepy. When he made eye contact with Roxas, the grin widened and he began to swing. A maddening creak slowly filled the room, and Axel and Roxas were the only ones who could hear it.

"_Boy, I wouldn't want to be you, kid. You're the one they're after, right? I'd start running kid, they're coming for you."_

"Who's coming for me?" Roxas hissed, but the man just started to laugh, swinging back and forth on his rope. Roxas turned slightly green and slid around to face the board again.

Finally, having enough, Axel leaned over in his chair and pulled off his rosary. This _had_ to classify as 'disturbing the peace' in the exorcist code, didn't it? Even if it didn't, Roxas looked like he was going to be sick.

Axel wrapped his rosary around his hand and slid it into the man's leg. Immediately, he began to scream. Roxas flinched, but couldn't put his hands over his ears and risk being seen by one of the 'normals.' Axel clenched his teeth as the cold of the spirit tingled up his arm.

"Vergessen ist ewig," he ground out, and the screaming stopped. Silence settled over the classroom and Axel and Roxas breathed a sigh of relief. It was over, for now.

* * *

1 "Good morning."

2 "You speak German?"

3 "Not very well."

4 "That's regrettable."

5 "It was nice talking to you."

6 "Have a nice day."

Please review! ...It wasn't too bad, was it? :)


	3. Did you just call me Roxy?

Okay everyone, here is the third installment of Oblivion is Eternal. Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but I was away and left my laptop (and subsequently this story) at home. Yeah, I'm smart. Anyway, the Oblivion master copy has just reached over 11,000 words. Who knew I had it in me?

A big thank you goes, once again, to my sister for always being there to help and motivate me with a nice kick in the behind. Thanks, Moony! heart

All standard disclaimers apply. Nothing but the plot and the dead people are mine.

And...SMACK IT!

* * *

It had been two weeks since Roxas had first started training, and like any teenage boy, he only had so much patience. When was he going to start exorcising ghosts? Not that he was in a big hurry, mind you, but he still felt useless. In truth, Roxas was still terrified of the spirits that roamed the halls of the school. How could he tell anyone? It was shameful, and Roxas was more than a little embarrassed. It was bad enough that he was hardly sleeping now—there were more of the spirits at night—and now he was falling asleep in class. Thank God it was Friday. 

Roxas was struggling with his last class of they day, staring out at the black-clouded sky. He was surprised it hadn't started to rain already with the look of things. He had just turned back to studying the pattern of scratches on his desktop when a lightning flash illuminated the room. Then everything went dark.

-----------------

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut, he was NOT afraid of the dark. Maybe he should start singing; that always calmed him down.

"_Somewhere in the darkness black dogs bark_

_And insects crawl and creep_

_I often hear a whisper in the trees_

_Like someone's in there looking out_

_And watching me_

_Sometimes at night I can sense a presence_

_Feel a danger_

_I'm a child inside, still afraid of the dark…__1__"_

…Okay, maybe that wasn't the best song to sing at a time like this. Roxas sat quietly, arms wrapped around himself as his teacher called for order amongst the students. He had almost convinced himself that he wasn't scared when a familiar cold swept through the room. Oh _hell_ no. The lightning flash lit up the room and Roxas saw him, standing in the ray of brief light from the window. His throat was cut and there were red streaks down his face, as if had been crying. Other than that he looked pretty normal. Then he spoke.

"_Jonathan, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. It was only a misunderstanding, Jonathan, how could you do this to me?"_ The spirit stretched out blood-covered hand and gently laid it on Roxas's cheek. Roxas felt the blood run down his face, down his neck… He pulled away and ran for the door.

"_Jonathan, I love you. Come back to me."_ But Roxas kept running and the spirit didn't follow.

-----------------

Roxas barreled down the dark hallway, taking turns left and right. He was bound to get lost, but that didn't matter. He could still feel the blood on his face…! He ran through something cold and froze. He squeezed his eyes shut, but something made him turn around and look. Staring baffled back at him was a man in an old suit…with his stomach cut open. Gutted, like a fish. Roxas could feel the bile rising in his throat. The man looked at him and opened his mouth, a spark of recognition in his eye.

"_Jonathan? What are you doing all the way over here? Victor's looking for you boy!"_ Roxas just nodded dumbly. Axel had told him that when they talked to you, they weren't really talking to _you_, just someone from the past. Best not to make them angry. They stared at each other until the man slid back, hand flying to his stomach. His eyes lost focus as they fixed on Roxas again.

"_How could you do this to me, Jonathan?"_

Without a word, Roxas turned and fled.

-----------------

Roxas flew down the hall, right turn here, left turn here, until he collided with something. He stiffened, waiting for the words that everyone who he had passed has said: "How could you do this to me Jonathan?" But they never came.

"Hey Roxas! I've been looking all over for you!" It was Demyx. Thank God.

"Demyx," he breathed, collapsing against his chest. Startled, Demyx wrapped his arms around Roxas's shaking form.

"You alright? Roxas?"

"Y—yeah. I'm fine." Roxas pulled away. An awkward silence settled over the two of them until Roxas cleared his throat. "So, why were you looking for me?" Demyx snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! Zexion told me to gather everyone and bring 'em to HQ. Just to make sure bad things don't happen."

"HQ?" Roxas asked. "And he told you to gather _everyone?_ How many do you still have to get?"

"Oh, you were the only one who didn't show up when the lights went out. I guess Zex forgot to mention it…"

"Great," Roxas groaned. "The only guy who didn't show up to the meeting." Demyx winced.

"I didn't mean to—what I mean is—" he bit his lip. "Look, I missed meetings too, when I was new. Don't sweat it. Let's go, shall we?" Roxas nodded.

"Sure."

-----------------

HQ turned out to be an empty classroom in the science wing. The other 11 members were all seated in a crooked circle of mismatched chairs. On the edges in worn holders were white candle stubs that sent a dim glow around the hooded figures.

"Ah, here they are," said a voice Roxas recognized to be the principal's. In unison, 12 hoods (including Demyx's) came off in a smooth motion. Roxas was left looking at the faces of his fellow exorcists. They were friendlier than he'd expected.

"Introduction time," Demyx announced. "Okay, that creepy red haired-guy is Lexaeus—"

"I'm not creepy. It's nice to meet you Roxas." Roxas nodded to him.

"And that blonde chick is Larxene—"

"Key kid."

"Hi."

"You already know me, Axel, Marluxia, and Zexion, and you already know Mr. Mansex and Saix over there." Xemnas made an aggravated noise in the back of his throat while everyone else laughed.

"Be quiet. Now." Xemnas ground out.

"Ha..ha…hoo…" Demyx breathed after a few minutes. "Anyway," he said, wiping tears from his eyes, "That guy with the dreadlocks is Xaldin and scar guy is Xigbar." Roxas waved to both of them. "And that the guy with the beard is Luxord. The other blonde guy is Vexen. …He's an even bigger creep than Lexaeus and that's _amazing_."

"Hey!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a creep?!" exclaimed Lexaeus.

"Maybe I should do the introductions next time," Zexion mused.

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"_Demyx_." Demyx paused.

"…Right, no arguing with Zexion."

"Good boy," Zexion said, kissing Demyx on the cheek. A few wolf whistles broke out from the other members.

"You are so whipped," Larxene cackled. Roxas looked at the other members of the Organization, able to joke around at a time like this, and felt even more out of place.

"Don't be upset, Mr. Dereveau," came a voice behind him. "It takes time to become immune to seeing a dead human among the living, you know. They have all had time to adapt." Xemnas put his hand on Roxas's slumped shoulder.

"Is it that easy to see?" Roxas whispered.

"Only for me. I had to watch all of these brats go through it too."

"Go through what?" asked Demyx. Zexion looked up, took one look at Roxas's face, and smiled.

"Oh. Yes, don't worry about it Roxas. Deep down, we're all still afraid too."

"Yeah," said Axel who reached up and pulled Roxas into the chair next to him. Was it just him, or did Axel's hand stay in his for longer than necessary? Not that he was complaining. It was probably just wishful thinking on Roxas's part.

"I have an idea," Zexion said after a moment. "Let's share experiences. It will pass the time."

"That's a good idea," Saix agreed as did everyone else. Almost all of Zexion's ideas were good ones.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to do it, Xemnas. I still don't know how. What memory do we want to start with?" Roxas was now thoroughly confused. Demyx looked over at him with a wink.

"Remember when I was telling you about the time Zexion made me sleep outside?" Roxas nodded. "Want to hear the story?"

"Let's start with that then," Xemnas said. "Bring it to the front of your mind Demyx. Join hands everyone." Roxas hesitantly joined hands with Axel and Demyx, feeling like a teenage girl about to attempt a séance. Axel's hand tightened in his.

"Hang on kid."

Xemnas stepped into the middle of the circle, put his hand on Demyx's forehead and spoke a phrase that Roxas didn't catch. There was a sharp tug and he was falling…fading into black.

-----------------

"_Zexion, for the last time, I don't know!" A younger Demyx was standing in front of the school gates, glaring at the sign. _

"_Look closer, Demyx."_

"_I'm looking as close as humanly possible!"_

"_Obviously not!" Demyx heaved a loud sigh._

"_Can't you just tell me Zexion?" Demyx asked turning to his mentor imploringly._

"_No." Clenching his teeth, Demyx turned to glare balefully at the sign. God he hated that guy._

"_Axel's so lucky," Demyx grumbled as he went up to inspect the sign. "He doesn't have to deal with a guy who has a stick up his ass."_

"_What was that?" Zexion's voice was very close behind him. Demyx froze._

"_Uh…I just asked if we could…go inside? Please?"_

"_That's what I thought. And no, _you_ aren't going inside until you figure it out. Have fun." And with that, Zexion disappeared inside the school._

"_You can't be serious!" Demyx screamed. But there was no answer._

_For hours Demyx sat there brooding on how much of a jerk Zexion was. He thought about it until darkness fell. He thought about it until sleep took him and he curled up in a ball in front of the answer._

-----------------

_Demyx woke when the rain started to fall, landing on his cheek and nose and soaking into his robe. Sitting up, Demyx swore._

"_This just fan_tastic_!" Demyx stood up, soaking wet and angry, and threw a rock at the sign. "Stupid plaque on the stupid gate, with your stupid German creed! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" Demyx chucked another rock at the sign and looked down at the ground, cold and defeated, all of his anger spent._

"_Stupid…" Demyx felt close to tears. But men didn't cry, Axel always said, so Demyx sucked it up and dropped his last rock. He thought back on what Zexion had told him:_

"Think Demyx, what phrase does every person at this school, exorcist or not, know? Think!"

"_I'm thinking!" Demyx yelled. "You hear me Zexion? I'M TRYING!" Against his will, a sob tore it's way out of Demyx's chest. He bit it back and squeezed his eyes shut. This was the end of the line. He'd been working on this _simple_ question for _twoweeks_ now. It had only taken Axel 2 days, 6 hours, 35 minutes, and 23 seconds; Vexen'd been counting. Maybe he just wasn't good enough to be an exorcist… Demyx sank to his knees, staring at the sign. The stupid sign on the stupid gate with the stupid German creed… Demyx turned his head to stare at the doors of the school._

"_What was I thinking…?" he whispered, shivering. "I give up." He turned his gaze heavenward, past the doors, past the motto carved above them. The motto. _

_What everyone knows…papered on the walls, carved above every door, _no chance of being forgotten_…_

"_Vergessen ist ewig…" There was a clink next to his ear and a flash of silver in the corner of his eye. He turned his head. A rosary? He turned fully and saw Zexion, hand outstretched, holding the silver rosary out to him. Demyx disbelievingly held out his hand, allowing tears to stream down his face. The older exorcist dropped the rosary into it and held his umbrella over the two of them._

"_Get up Demyx, and come inside. Welcome to the Organization."_

-----------------

Roxas opened his eyes, partially expecting to be dripping wet. But he was still inside, holding hands with Axel and Demyx and looking at Xemnas in the middle of the circle. Strange, his face felt wet… He didn't realize he was crying until Axel's gloved hand wiped the tears away. Roxas quickly scrubbed at his face, hoping that no one else had seen the tears. But if he factored in his luck as of late, they already had. But when he looked up, everyone else was wiping tears away, too. Zexion leaned over and gently claimed Demyx's mouth. Demyx kissed him back softly and smiled when they pulled apart.

"See?" Axel whispered in his ear. Roxas felt pleasant shivers run down his spine and his face turned pink. Luckily it was dark in the room and Axel missed it. "Nothing to be ashamed about. We all feel what Demyx felt. It's really awesome."

"H—how is that possible? What just happened?"

"That," Xemnas said, "is called—"

"Mind melting," Axel finished. Xemnas looked annoyed.

"That's not what it's called, Axel." Demyx looked up, surprised.

"It's not?" Xemnas shook his head, looking exasperated. "Axel, you lied to me!"

"Look," said Axel, "he's confused enough already. Just explain how it works. We all call it mind melting anyway." Xemnas looked around at the sheepishly nodding exorcists. It was true; everyone except Zexion (and Saix) called it mind melting.

"Anyway," Xemnas ground out, "the…mind melting as you call it is very simple. I just inject my spiritual power into Demyx's memory. Then it travels from his mind into all of yours. The hands aren't really necessary, but it helps the flow of energy between minds. I find it hard to do without."

"So, anyone of us could do it?" Roxas asked, looking around at his peers. Xemnas chuckled.

"All of you will be able do it in time, young one, but right now the only one who's close to being able to attempt it is Zexion. It takes a high concentration of spirit energy, and Zexion is the only one who has that much right now."

"Umm…here's a stupid question: How do you uh, get spirit energy?" Everyone laughed, and Roxas felt even more ridiculous than before. That is, until Axel leaned down, still chuckling, and put his mouth next to Roxas's ear.

"Your spirit energy develops when you're around others with higher energy. If the people around you have lower energy, they benefit from your company. Got it memorized?"

"The sharing of memories also heightens spiritual energy, no matter what your level. Everyone benefits from everyone," Zexion added, not missing how red Roxas's face turned at Axel's proximity, even in the dark.

"R-really?" Roxas stuttered out (like the intelligent boy he is). "Cool." Axel grinned cockily.

"Yeah, I guess it is." The night stretched on with all of the Organization members sharing their experiences and feelings, and Roxas felt closer to them than he had ever felt to anyone before. He learned the history of the house, the Organization, and all of his fellow exorcists, but he still had yet to receive his rosary.

"There is much you have yet to learn before you can exorcise spirits, Roxas," Zexion said, as if reading his mind. "Although Demyx and Axel's generation received their rosaries after completing the first test, things have gotten more…cautious since then. Armed with rosaries, new exorcists seem to believe they are, shall we say, invincible? We've lost quite a few trainees that way." All the other exorcists nodded sadly and Roxas cringed.

"Ouch. Is that why there are only 12 of you?" Xemnas nodded.

"We choose our applicants after a year's study period and careful observation."

"Oh. Wait, then why am I here?" The other exorcists exchanged unreadable looks and no one spoke for a moment. Finally, Demyx chuckled and winked at Roxas.

"'Cause you're special." And that was the end of that.

------------------

After the lights came back on, the group split up and went back to their rooms. They had set the date of the next meeting for tomorrow, during 3rd period. Roxas was told that the cloak was the only thing he needed to get out of class, just raise your hand and they'll nod for you to go. Roxas nodded, but was still apprehensive. He hated getting in trouble, but figured that if he got sent to the principal's office it wouldn't matter either way. But everything went off without a hitch and Roxas found himself to be the second exorcist to inhabit the Records Room, as it was called by the others.

"Guten Morgen, Roxas."

"Guten Morgen, Marluxia." The pink haired exorcist's face split into a smile, as if he still couldn't believe that Roxas could speak just that little bit of German. Roxas smiled back and took a seat in one of the mismatched chairs. Marluxia sipped his tea and studied him from across the circle.

"Something wrong?" Roxas asked. Marluxia shook his head and went back to reading his newspaper. The other exorcists filtered in after a few moments and the meeting started.

Axel was appointed as Roxas's official field trainer, but the others were encouraged to help and add to the experience. Zexion was called in as Roxas's tutor, there to help him learn everything from the books. Roxas was even excused from the rest of the day to start the chapter on ceremonies and rituals with Zexion. Although Roxas was ecstatic that he was a member of the Organization, he wasn't too thrilled about having Axel as his field trainer. He'd probably kill himself during one of the simple exorcisms because he was staring at Axel and not paying attention. Yeah, having a crush on the one of the people you're going to be spending most of your waking hours with did not spell success in Roxas's book.

It was going to be one hell of a school year.

-----------------

"Now, there were three main rituals for exorcising spirits in the old days. First, the use of a cross and prayer. Second, the use of the thirteen-pointed star and a chant. Third, ritual salting and burning of the remains of the deceased. All three of these were used in different parts of the world, by different social and religious groups. Understand so far?"

"I think so. But isn't thirteen supposed to be an evil number?" Zexion laughed, but shook his head.

"The ritual that used the thirteen-pointed star and the chant or phrase has been around the longest, but used by the smallest group of people. When someone performed an exorcism using this method, the two things that were recorded in peoples minds were 'thirteen' and 'evil.' Therefore, in most cultures, thirteen is associated with evil and the devil instead of the _banishment_ of the devil. As you soon will learn, not all legends are true." Roxas nodded. It made sense when he thought about it.

The lesson carried on and Roxas learned many things about the rituals of the past, the types of crosses that were used (wooden ones were most common, but silver worked the best), how thirteen-pointed stars were drawn and made (ranging from thirteen crossed lines drawn in charcoal to gold and silver star pendants, this method allowed the most freedom), and what kind of salt to use for burning bones (it didn't really matter, but rock salt was said to be the best) until his head felt like it would burst. Zexion noticed this and gently shoved him out the door.

"Axel, he's all yours."

"Yes! All right kid, ready for the action?" Roxas nodded, happy to get out of the classroom. He'd almost forgotten why he was dreading going out alone with Axel until the sun reflected of the laughing aqua eyes and shone through the fire red hair. Roxas's heart skipped a beat and his breath caught in his throat. Oh God, this was going to be such exquisite torture.

"You okay kid? You're face got kinda red there all of a sudden."

"Huh?" Roxas looked up and wished he hadn't. He met Axel's beautiful, concerned eyes and felt the blush creep up his neck, all the way to his ears. "I—I'm fine. Just tired that's all." Axel didn't look convinced, but let it slide with a chuckle.

"Yeah, Zexion can wear anyone out with all that brainy stuff." Roxas laughed along with him and made up his mind.

"Hey, Axel?"

"Yeah, Roxy?"

"Can I ask you a—wait a minute, Roxy? Did you just call me _Roxy?!_"

"Yeah, why?"

"Please don't. My mom's dog is named Roxy. She was a gift when I was born, and I never asked Mom whether the dog was named after me, or if I was named after the dog. It's just…embarrassing."

"Oh. Sorry. So, what did you want, kid?"

"Oh yeah, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why am I really in the Organization? And don't give me that 'You're special' crap that I've been getting from everyone else. You're not a liar." Axel uncomfortably scratched the back of his head.

"You're not going to stop asking until I tell you?"

"Right." Roxas crossed his arms over his chest and pinned Axel with an expectant stare. Axel sighed.

"You sure we just can't drop the subject?"

"Positive."

"Fine. How far did Zex get when he explained the cult ritual to you?"

"The cult, or coven ritual consists of thirteen, no more, no less, trained exorcists, each stationed on one point of a star drawn over, on, or through the object or place being exorcised. Each exorcist then takes their star pendant in their right hand and combines the spiritual energy released from each exorcist into one group omission. This is usually done by the leader or most experienced exorcist in the cult. The coven then speaks the chant as one and casts the energy over the target. This is the most powerful exorcizing ritual known, as it exorcises all spirits at the target location. This ritual is only used in times of emergency," Roxas parroted back, the exact paragraph Zexion had recited not 20 minutes ago. Axel let out a low whistle.

"Wow kid, that's amazing. Anyway, how many exorcists are in the Organization?"

"12?"

"Including you."

"…13?"

"Good. Now, from that paragraph you just recited, why is it important to have thirteen exorcists?"

"Because that's the only number you can perform the cult ritual with?"

"Right again."

"But why do you guys need to perform a cult ritual?"

"Because, well, because there's been an increase in the number of malicious spirits lately, and it getting dangerous for the normal kids at the school."

"So why me?" Axel considered answering, "Because you're special," but decided against it. The kid deserved the truth.

"One, because we were desperate. We needed to start training another exorcist soon or they wouldn't be ready in time."

"Ready for wh—?" Axel held up a finger to stop him.

"I'm not done. Two, because you already had the gift, we just had to hone it. And three, well, because you're special." Roxas looked like he was going to punch something. "But I'm not saying that just because," Axel hurriedly amended. "You see, there never used to be this many spirits at Oblivion Heights, things were pretty boring."

"So what changed?" Roxas asked, curious despite his better judgment.

"You. All the spirits started to come the moment you came to Oblivion Heights."

* * *

1. The Saw Doctors "Still Afraid of the Dark" 

There you have it, chapter three. Sorry it was so talky, but I had to explain things somewhere right? Right? Please review, and then there will be cake.

Sincerely,

Tube


	4. AN: So sorry!

Dear loyal readers,

Dear loyal readers,

I'm so sorry! I haven't given up on this story, and I really am sorry about the late updates, I haven't even started chapter 4. But it's not my fault I swear. My laptop broke, and my family disapproves of use of the computer WITH INTERNET just for typing. Alas, my tale of woe. Once again, I apologize. Please be patient!

Thanks, Tube.


	5. Jonathan?

Okay, here it is at last. I'm so sorry for the wait, but my laptop broke. Anyway, this chapter reveals a lot of stuff, so pay attention! ...Okay, not a lot, but important stuff. Previous disclaimers and warnings apply.

Without further ado, CHAPTER 4!

* * *

"…Excuse me?" was all Roxas could come up with. Axel rubbed the back of his neck and pulled his mouth up into an uneasy grin.

"Yeah…maybe I shouldn't have told you that." Dropping his hand from his neck, Axel distractedly pulled at his glove while Roxas composed himself.

"I guess it shouldn't come as much of a surprise." Roxas grumbled after a few minutes. Axel quirked his mouth sympathetically and led Roxas out into the woods. There, in a clearing, he began teaching Roxas how to fight.

He was exhausted when he fell into bed that night. His head hurt from being schooled by Zexion, and his arms hurt from blocking Axel's attacks. Hopefully, he'd just be able to sleep tonight. Stripping out of his school clothes, Roxas changed into his pajamas and slipped under the covers, praying for restful sleep. But fate was not kind.

He didn't dream; no, it wasn't a nightmare that woke him. He woke to get a drink of water to find that his door was open. Strange, hadn't he closed it when he went to bed? Maybe Demyx had opened before he went to Zexion's room. He didn't think anything of it, that is, until he heard it. _Drip, drip, drip…_ A sudden cold swept through the room. Roxas took his hand off the doorknob and slowly turned around. There, in the light cast by the window, was the man from before. Roxas didn't even wait to hear what he said.

Sprinting out of the room, Roxas headed for Zexion and Marluxia's room. He had no rosary of his own, but Zexion and Marluxia always had theirs. Frantically he pounded on the door, but he received no reply. Breathing hard he glanced back over his shoulder. The ghost man was rapidly approaching.

"Jonathan! There you are! I've been looking all over for you." Roxas stopped thinking; he just acted on instinct. He stopped knocking and forced the door open. Hysterically he searched the empty room. Where were they!? Why weren't they here!? A flash of silver caught his eye and without another thought he grabbed whatever it was and ran out of the room, down the hall. As he ran, he looked at what he had grabbed. A rosary?

Well, a great lot of good that did him. He had no idea how to use one! He chanced a look over his shoulder and ran faster. The ghost was almost there!

Taking turns at random, Roxas found that he was in a hallway he recognized. Pushing open the first door he came across, Roxas threw himself headlong into the…cafeteria? But it wasn't.

All around him people in colorful dresses and neat black suits twirled to music only they could hear. Without realizing it, Roxas had thrown himself into a room full of dancing spirits. He staggered into the center of the room and watched, wide eyed, as slowly, one by one, the couples stopped dancing and drifted toward him.

"Jonathan! What a pleasure to see you!"

"The lady's waiting, Jonathan!"

"Will you dance with me now, Jonathan?"

The people drifted past, touching his arm, patting his face, holding his hand. They passed, and disappeared, only to reappear on the floor with their partner. The cycle continued until Roxas noticed that there was blood on his hand.

He gasped and held it away from his body, reminding himself to breathe. He looked around and saw that there were smears of blood on the floor, and a constant _drip, drip_ filled the room. All of a sudden, the dancing ceased.

"How could you do this to me, Jonathan?" The cry grew louder as more people took it up. _"How could you do this to me, Jonathan?!"_ They began to close in, some whispering, some screaming, but all were reaching out and grabbing hold of his clothes. In vain, Roxas tried to push the hands away.

He clutched the rosary to his chest and stepped back again, back pressed into a corner. They drew nearer and nearer, blood mingling with each other's as they all attempted to pull Roxas closer to the mob.

Roxas couldn't move, couldn't speak. In a last act of desperation, or maybe it was just hysteria, Roxas squeezed his eyes shut, pulled the rosary to him and screamed.

"Help! Somebody help!"

--

Burning. …Burning. What was burning? Axel sleepily sat up and rubbed his eyes. Hissing in pain, he grabbed the rosary hanging around his neck. Damn, someone must really be in trouble. Leaping to his feet, he glanced down at the cross while he sprinted down the hallway. _Demyx, 1D A._ Demyx? What the hell was Demyx doing in the cafeteria?

--

Zexion blinked at his wrist, where a slight burning had started. Marluxia stopped mid-sentence and looked down at his chest where his own rosary had begun to heat up.

"Was?1" he asked, pulling it out of his shirt collar. Upon closer examination, it said, _Demyx, 1D A._ But that didn't make any sense. He glanced up at Zexion, who in turn, looked over to the blonde man sitting on the couch.

"Demyx?"

"Yeah?"

"Who has your rosary?"

--

By now, every exorcist in the school was running to help "Demyx" who had gotten himself into a fine mess. But all grumbling and moaning stopped when one, they noticed that Demyx was running with them to the cafeteria, and two, they felt the wave of dread that spread along the hallway.

"Demyx? What?" asked Larxene. "If you're here, who needs help?"

"Roxas," Demyx answered with certainty. "I left my rosary in my room. He's the only one who could have taken it." The pace quickened. An untrained exorcist at the mercy of who knows how many spirits? It meant death.

Axel arrived first. Flinging the doors open, all he saw was a mass of color in one corner of the cafeteria. In it, he could hear hoarse cries of "Help!" over the shouts of "Jonathan! How could you do this?" Jonathan? Who the hell is Jonathan? Axel didn't stop to think before he charged into the fray.

"Vergessen ist ewig!" he shouted, and the others followed his example.

"Vergessen ist ewig!"

"Vergessen ist ewig!"

Finally, it was safe. All of the spirits had either fled or been exorcised. With the threat neutralized, all of the Organization members turned to look at Roxas. The boy was shaking as Demyx and Axel sat down on either side of him. They each put an arm under one of Roxas's and pulled him to his feet, supporting him as his legs threatened to give out. Xigbar marched forward.

"What the hell do you think you're doing kid?" he shouted, and Roxas flinched. "You could've been killed!"

"Hey," Axel snapped, "lay off." Gently steering him into a cafeteria chair, Demyx and Axel lowered Roxas into it and instructed him to take deep breaths. Roxas did, and slowly color returned to his face.

"There," Demyx said, "all better." Roxas just nodded, still concentrating on breathing.

"So," Axel started when Roxas had calmed. "Want to tell me what happened?" Inhaling deeply, Roxas nodded. All of the exorcists gathered around.

"Well, I was in my room when I woke up and noticed the door was open. So I walked over to close it when I felt really cold and…"

--

Zexion didn't sleep that night. No, he stayed up researching the history of the house. The things he found did little to answer his questions. He already knew about the murder, he already knew about the remodeling grant. _He already knew._ Where were the new things he had never seen before? Where was the information he so desperately sought? Who was Jonathan?

--

Roxas didn't get much sleep either. He was so jittery while Axel and Demyx led him back to his room that Axel paused and offered an alternative.

"Hey, Roxy? Wanna sleep in my room tonight?" Roxas quickly looked up. Demyx made an inquisitive sound in his throat.

"Why?" Demyx asked.

"Because he doesn't need to be alone now, and you're planning on helping Zex research, right?" Demyx nodded sheepishly. "So, how 'bout it, kid?"

Roxas nodded. "Okay."

--

The night had been long, but Roxas soon beat himself into submission and forced himself to go to sleep. He had lain awake for two hours before he drifted off. He had no dreams, good or bad, well, not that he could remember.

And to make the situation even better, he was in Axel's room. With Axel. It was possibly the best thing had ever happened to him. But unbeknownst to him, Axel was thinking exactly the same thing.

--

His training doubled over the next week. Zexion quizzed him on what he learned (and some things he hadn't), Axel's attacks became more vicious, and now, Demyx had been assigned to help teach Roxas how to fend off multiple attacks. All in all, he was busy.

"Move your feet!" Axel snapped as Roxas's arm came up to block the punch sent his way. Doing as Axel instructed, Roxas pulled his left foot back, pivoted, and sent Demyx stumbling to the left with a well-timed kick.

"Well done!" Demyx remarked as he righted himself.

"On guard!" Axel shouted as he ran at Roxas. Roxas ducked and gave Axel a shove to the small of his back, continuing the momentum. Staggering forward, Axel laughed. "You learn quick, kid!" He didn't see Roxas coming until it was too late.

They landed on the ground with a crash, Roxas on top of Axel. They remained like that, bodies pressed together, until Demyx cleared his throat. Roxas's face turned pink and he quickly hoisted himself off of Axel. He held out his hand and the redhead took it. Axel chuckled as Roxas pulled him to his feet.

"Attacking a guy with his back turned? That's dirty."

"Well," Roxas said with a smile, "I learned from the best."

--

"What are we going to do about him? He won't be ready in time."

"Your right. How is his training coming?"

"He learns quickly. We've already passed summoning rituals."

"Impressive. Axel?"

"The kid can move. He's gonna be better than me soon!"

"That's not hard," laughed Larxene.

"Hey!"

The Organization was meeting, without Roxas. They had had many meetings that Roxas wasn't present at, mostly to discuss what was to be done with and about him.

"He is progressing rapidly. I haven't seen anyone cover so much so fast since we found you, Zexion." The blue-haired man inclined his head and silently accepted Xemnas's praise.

"But none the less, I wasn't ready for a year. We don't have that kind of time." Everyone agreed. Something had to be done, but what? They couldn't just throw Roxas into the field without proper training.

"Zexion, skip the history. He can about that later." Zexion nodded. "Axel, move on to incorporating a rosary into your lesson. And chants." The redhead nodded as well. "All right, I guess that's all we can do. Dismissed."

--

"All right, I've gotten a lower spirit for you to exorcise. Are you ready?" Roxas nodded. "Now, it'll feel kinda strange when you first stick your hand in, but if you do it fast you won't have to feel it for long." Again, Roxas nodded, clutching his rosary. He always had bad luck around spirits. Seeing his face, Axel slung an arm around the younger boy's shoulders.

"Wha—?" Roxas's face turned alight shade of pink.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

The spirit turned out to be that of a woman, sitting alone at the side of a decrepit well. From her clothes, Roxas could tell she was from the same time as the dancers and the man he had encountered. Breathing deeply, he stepped forward. Her head rose.

"Jonathan?" Axel looked a bit taken aback. Her too? But Roxas had already stepped forward and extended his rosary. She got up.

"Jonathan? What are you doing? What is—" she jerked backward and coughed. Blood spilled down her chin. Axel flinched and spared a look at Roxas.

The kid persevered and forced his beads into the screaming woman. Her screaming doubled in volume as Roxas gritted his teeth and spat out, "Vergessen ist ewig."

She disappeared.

--

Zexion had been up for nearly a week. No sleep, hardly any food. Demyx was worried and feared that Zexion was going to die. Despite protests, Demyx forced Zexion to go to bed by hiding his books.

"What the—? Demyx! Where did you put them?"

"Somewhere you'll find in the morning. Now, sleep." Zexion's objections fell on deaf ears as he was tucked into bed.

"Demyx…"

"Goodnight, Zexion."

He awoke at 7 the next day. 7 p.m. Needless to say, Zexion wasn't happy.

"Do you want food?" Demyx asked when the door burst open. Zexion stormed past, clutching his book. "No? Okay."

Page after page, paragraph after paragraph, sentence after sentence, Zexion studied. Until finally, when he had been just about to give up, he found it.

"Ah ha!"

--

The Organization met that night, where a tired and slightly moody Zexion presented what he had found.

"You all know about the murder here, right?" Nods of assent were given. "Well, the killer was never found, but there were a man that was a suspect. He was singled out simply because he was the only person on the guest list who didn't end up dead. Unfortunately, he was never caught. The anniversary of the murder is coming up, that's why all the spirits are coming out. But we need to be rid of them for good. Any questions so far?" No one said anything, so Zexion took that as his cue to continue.

"What I haven't been able to find out is why. Why now? What changed to make them reenact this year?"

"A special date?" suggested Larxene. "This had gotta be what, the eightieth anniversary?"

"Eighty-first, actually," Zexion corrected.

"Nothing special about that," Axel remarked.

"Wait…" Demyx said, slowly raising a hand. "I have a question."

"Yes?" Zexion inquired.

"What was his name? The guy, I mean. The one that got away?"

"Oh, I forgot to say? His name was Jonathan. Jonathan Williamson." Axel rested his chin on his hand. So that was where the Jonathan had come from. But why call Roxas that? None of the others had ever been mistaken for the alleged killer.

"Jonathan…Williamson? Are you sure about that?" a tight, rather chocked voice asked. Everyone turned to look at the owner of the voice; Roxas.

"Yes, why?" Roxas's face had begun the change from colored to chalk white that the exorcists were familiar with. Acting from past experiences, Axel and Demyx moved to either side of the boy.

"What's wrong kid?" Axel questioned, putting a comforting hand on Roxas's shoulder. Roxas swallowed and tried to speak.

"I—Jonathan is—What—" He closed his eyes, drew in a breath, and tried again.

"Jonathan Williamson was my grandfather's name."

* * *

1. What?

Thanks for reading! Reviews are love!


	6. You're wrong!

Well, here it is, chapter 5. I apologize profusely in advance for any/all spelling and grammar mistakes, but my beta is in Ireland right now, so she can't help me. Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but it was a good place to stop and shorter chapters equal earlier and more frequent updates.

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

Without further ado, chapter 5!

* * *

"Oh. Wait, what?!" Axel was very confused. Confused, and surprised. Zexion's eyes had widened, Demyx's jaw had dropped and he fell out of his chair. Axel tried again. "What?"

"He was my grandfather," Roxas said again.

"Well, everything makes sense then," Zexion said, going over to help Demyx up out of the dirt.

"And he did kill everyone," Roxas continued.

"How do you know?"

"I've been having these weird dreams lately…" Roxas trailed off, unsure whether he should continue.

But Zexion would have none of that. "Go on," he prompted with a strangely intense look on this face, "what kind of dreams? When did they start?"

"Well, they're more like memories, actually. Jonathan's memories. I had the first one in the car on the way here."

"Tell them to me. Everything you can remember."

"Well in the first one there were three men standing on the front lawn. They were covered in blood, one more so than the others. He seemed to be in charge. He, well, I'm going to call him Jonathan, was leaning in the doorway saying something like, "That went well." Then they decided to leave."

"Really. Three you say?" Zexion mused. "Please go on, what happened next?"

"Well the next one came right after my tour of the school with Demyx. I was Jonathan; that I'm sure about. He was, well _I_ was, walking down the hall, covered in blood. He freaked out when he saw the mirror and wiped the blood off his face. I think…I think he killed his boyfriend. He said something about someone cheating on him, a boy. Then he flipped out and changed his clothes like he couldn't stand being in them anymore.

He ran down the hall to the door, I think he was crying. Then he stopped, composed himself, and opened the door to meet his companions. Then it repeated, all night."

"Have you had any more? This might prove to be valuable information."

"No, but if I do, you'll be the first to know."

* * *

_The blood running down his arm didn't seem to bother him. A cruel smile marred his soft face as he twisted the knife deeper into the other's chest._

"_Bitch," he spat at the crumpled figure. "Do you see what happens when you take something that's mine?" The woman gasped as her hand flew to her chest._

"_W—wh—what are y—you talk—ing about, Jonathan?" She was dying. He smirked._

"_Victor," he snarled, and then slit her throat._

Roxas woke with a start. Damn, another dream. Sighing, he reached over and grabbed the notebook off his side table. He had started recording the dreams so he could just give the notebook to Zexion. Besides, writing them down helped him remember them.

'Friday, May 12. Dream #4. Between 12:30 pm and 1:54 am.

Jonathan killed what looked to be the lady of the house. He was killing her because she "took what was his," a man named 'Victor.' He stabbed her in the chest, right underneath her collarbone. She didn't appear to know what he was talking about. Perhaps she was innocent?'

Roxas closed the book and lay down on his bed again, hoping that his brief bout of clairvoyance was over. Sadly, it was not to be.

"_Victor? Victor where are you?" a singsong voice called. From a room on the left a cry of, "In here, Jonathan!" was heard. Jonathan traipsed over to the door and knocked on the frame. "Victor, I'm coming in."_

_Jonathan pushed open the door after making a hand signal to his companions. They moved off down the hallway._

"_All right, I'm ready Jonathan." Jonathan slipped in and wrapped his arms around the other man. _

"_You look great Victor, what's the occasion?"_

"_The lady asked me to sit at the high table with her at dinner."_

"Did_ she now?" There was an edge of ice in Jonathan's voice, but Victor didn't notice it. "How wonderful."_

"_It is, isn't it? It's a great honor."_

"_Yes, she seems to have taken a great liking to you, Victor."_

"_She has, hasn't she?" Victor sounded proud. Jonathan buried his face in the other's neck._

"_Do you love me Victor?"_

"_What?"_

"_Do you love me?" Victor had never told Jonathan that he loved him aloud, but Jonathan always assumed that he was just afraid of commitment. Now he was seeing it as something else._

"_Jonathan—"_

"Do you love me?_" Victor turned in Jonathan's arms to face him. He planted a kiss on Jonathan's lips before trying to pull away, just like he always did. Jonathan's arms tightened._

"_Jonathan, let me go. I'm going to be late."_

"_That's not going to work this time, Victor. I want to hear it."_

"Jonathan_—"_

"Say it._" Victor placed his hands on Jonathan's chest and shoved. Jonathan stumbled back. It was then that Victor noticed the blood._

"_Jonathan, are you hurt? Why is there blood…?"_

"_SAY IT!" Jonathan roared. Victor took a step back._

"_Why are you doing this to me, Jonathan?" Jonathan swung his arm back, and for the first time Victor saw the knife in his hand. _

_The knife slid across Victor's throat with surprising ease._

_Jonathan stood there for a moment, watching Victor's twitches stop, and the blood flow slowly peter out. He felt sick. He had never intended to kill him; he had just—just wanted to hear Victor say he loved him. Crouching next to the body, Jonathan raised his hand to Victor's face. He ran his fingers down Victor's cold cheek, leaving streaks of blood._

"_I'm sorry, Victor." And Jonathan turned and fled._

Roxas slipped out of bed. He walked down the hall and into the bathroom to get a drink before he had to write down the dream. Maybe water would calm his nerves.

As he walked down the hallway, he had the strangest urge to call out, "Victor?" He pushed it down and sipped his water. It was just his imagination acting up.

Opening his mouth to yawn, Roxas was surprised to find that a yawn was not what came out.

"_Victor?"_ Roxas squeaked and closed his mouth. But it opened again against his will as he felt something tighten around his chest. _"Victor where are you?"_

"_In here, Jonathan!"_

No, Roxas was not repeating this scene in real life.

"Let me go," he ground out, not really sure who he was talking to. "I'm not Jonathan. Let me go." He struggled against what felt like arms wrapped around his torso. "I'm not Jonathan!"

Finally, the pressure disappeared with a sigh of, _"Jonathan…"_

Roxas stood shaking in the hallway for a minute before he changed his course and headed toward Axel's room.

* * *

"What the hell?" Axel groaned. "What the hell do you want?" It was freaking _two in the morning_ and someone was knocking on his door. Dear God in heaven, he was going to _kill_ whoever it was.

"What?" he snapped, pulling the door open. There stood Roxas, looking pale and shaken.

Okay, so maybe kill was a bit of a strong word.

"Hey Axel. Sorry for uh…waking you up." The kid looked so scared and lost that Axel just couldn't bring himself to be angry.

"Hey kid. Don't worry 'bout wakin' me. What happened?"

"Well, I uh…got kinda freaked out. By a dream."

"Have you told Zex yet?" Axel asked, leading the kid inside.

"No, I…" Roxas swallowed, "haven't been back inside my dorm."

"Okay. We'll wait 'til tomorrow." Axel pulled Roxas down on the bed in front of him. The kid was shaking so badly that Axel could feel the bed trembling. Axel leaned Roxas back against his chest and wrapped his arms around him.

It was like that that they fell asleep, comfortable in each other's arms.

* * *

"We're going to have to find Jonathan's remains and dispose of them. He's the one keeping the rest of the spirits here," Zexion said, looking around the circle at the other exorcists.

"Yes. We'll start immediately," Xemnas agreed. "Saix, Demyx, Axel you go with Zexi—"

"You're wrong." Everyone blinked and turned towards Roxas.

"…Excuse me?" Zexion asked looking slightly baffled.

"You're wrong. It's not Jonathan."

"Look kid, with all respect to your crazy dead grandpa—" Xaldin began, but Zexion cut him off.

"If it's not Jonathan, who is it?" he asked. Not mad, simply curious.

"It's Victor."

"Victor?"

"Jonathan's lover. Jonathan killed him because he would say he loved him."

"How do you know?"

"I dreamt it. Last night." Zexion didn't say anything for the longest time. Minutes passed in silence. Demyx, who was watching Zexion, feared that Roxas had broken Zexion's poor, fragile mental state. But Zexion just cocked his head to the side and turned to Xemnas.

"You heard the kid. You're looking for Victor."

* * *

Thanks for sticking around this long! The next chapter should be up soon (I'm on a roll :D), but first there's something I want to ask you all. Once the original story's done, I was thinking about writing the rest of the members' 'coming to the Organization' stories. Would you be willing to read those? Also, I changed Zexion's last name. It is now going to be Schuyler instead of Yoshibara. I just forgot I'd given him one before.

Anyway, please review!


	7. Help?

This the fixed upload of the previous chapter 7. Continuity kills me, you see. The dates down there were a hundred years off before. Now, they're fixed. Why doesn't anyone tell me about these things?

* * *

Things went rather quiet after that. Demyx blinked a few times before realizing what had happened. Zexion had just about admitted he was wrong. That _never_ happened. Ever. Axel was just as shocked. But he was also very confused.

"Wait a minute. Care to run that by me again?" Zexion and Roxas both turned to look at him. "Okay, maybe I'm a bit slow, but I didn't understand _anything_ you guys were going on about except for that part right at the end." All around him, the others were agreeing.

"Yeah," said Larxene. "Axel's right, though I hate to admit it. I just don't see how you got the lover as the evil one. Didn't the crazy grandpa—no offense, Roxas—kill everyone?"

"You're partially right, Larxene. You see, Jonathan only killed two people: the lady of the house and Victor, the latter of which he never intended to kill at all. His two companions killed the rest of them," Roxas explained.

"Then how come they keep callin' you Jonathan and asking how you could do that to them?"

"They're just echoing Victor's thoughts. His last words were "Why are you doing this to me, Jonathan?" so it makes sense that he'd be stuck on those words, stuck on the fact that Jonathan killed him before he could explain things. He's not going to move on until one of two things happens: he either tells Jonathan he loves him, or he kills Jonathan either as himself or one of the trapped party guests. His spirit has gone mad."

"Oh. Okay then, what are we waiting for?"

--

The search for Victor's grave took two months. Zexion was ashamed that it took that long, but Demyx and the rest of them managed to convince him that it wasn't his fault. Records back then were shoddy, and that was putting it nicely.

Research turned up that the grave of a Victor could be found in the local cemetery, about 2 miles out of town.

"Why didn't we check there first?" Axel asked as they boarded the school bus, shovels in hand.

"We had to be sure," Zexion answered tartly. Obviously, he was just as miffed as Axel.

Roxas was the last exorcist to get on the bus. He sat next to Axel, not looking pale for once. But Axel wasn't convinced.

"You don't_ have_ to come, kid," he whispered, leaning close to the younger boy.

"Yeah I do," Roxas replied through tight lips. Axel sighed, but laid a comforting hand on Roxas's shoulder. He kept it there for the whole drive.

--

Roxas had never been to a cemetery before. It wasn't too bad, he decided as he walked through the rows of headstones, looking for Victor. Xemnas had gotten the city's and the family's approval for Victor's exhumation, so all that was left was to find the grave.

Lexaeus was the one who found it.

"Here it is!" It turned out that Victor was buried in the back row, in the grave next to the lady of the house.

"Fitting, huh?" Axel remarked as the others set up a salt perimeter.

"This," Zexion explained to Roxas as he laid the salt down, "is to keep the spirit form escaping once the grave is opened."

"Oh." Roxas said. That made sense. He studied the gravestone as the others prepared to begin.

'Victor Takibi. Born December 5, 1899. Died August 21, 1928.' Funny, it looked like something else had been written there…

The shovels dug into the ground with a steady rhythm, and soon the dull thunk of wood was heard.

"That's him," Xemnas said as Demyx, Luxord, and Xigbar reached down and pulled out the coffin.

"Give me hand with this," Luxord said and Axel and Roxas helped him pull one end out of the ground. Xigbar and Demyx had the other end out soon after.

"Well Axel," Zexion said, "say hello to your great-grandfather," and the lid of the coffin was removed.

--

Axel's cry of, "My _what?"_ was drowned out by Demyx's shout.

"Where is he?!" Axel tore his astonished gaze off of Zexion long enough to glance at the casket. The _empty_ casket.

"Holy hell," Zexion breathed.

"This is bad," Saix agreed.

"Where is he?!" Demyx asked again.

"My _what?!"_ Axel demanded again.

"Your great-grandfather, Axel," Zexion answered distractedly, making his way to the other side of the coffin.. Once he had completed his circuit, Zexion made his way over to the discarded shovels. "We might as well put it back. We're not going to find him here. The spirit must have taken the remains."

Demyx sprinkled some salt into the coffin for good measure before he, Lexaeus, and Xaldin lowered it back into the ground.

--

An hour later, 13 tired and confused exorcists got back on the bus and returned to the school. It was oddly silent throughout the whole trip back, except for Axel's mutterings of, "My great-grandfather, huh? Interesting…"

Xemnas said that the meeting that night was cancelled, and that everyone should just head up to bed. Maybe they would have a meeting tomorrow.

Roxas went to his room, followed by Demyx, Zexion, and Marluxia. All were yawning as they went they're separate ways, and Roxas didn't even bother changing into his pajamas before he fell asleep.

_The precession moved slowly, leading the caskets slowly into the cemetery. Row upon row, they were lowered down into the ground. As the last one was covered with dirt, a priest stepped forward and began the blessing of the dead._

"_We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of so many beloved friends and relatives…" The voice became a dull drone in the background as the headstones came into focus._

'_Mary Yulston. Born August 1, 1900. Died August 21, 1928.'_

'_Damien French. Born November 9, 1891. Died August 21, 1928.'_

_They continued like this, until the last headstone in the back row slid into view._

'_Victor Takibi. Born December 5, 1899. Died August 21, 1928. Body not recovered.'_

Roxas shot out of bed, nearly tripped and killed himself on Demyx's sitar case, and barreled into Zexion and Marluxia's room. Unsurprisingly, both were still awake and researching. All of their muttering and conferring about the missing body stopped as Roxas shoved the door open.

Marluxia let out a _very manly_ shriek. Zexion jumped. But Roxas didn't have time to apologize.

"It didn't take it," he gasped out, too excited to say anything else. Zexion calmly put his book on the table while Marluxia surreptitiously took his hand off his heart.

"Who didn't take what, Roxas?" Zexion asked.

"Victor's spirit. It couldn't have taken the remains from that casket because _they were never buried there._"

"Did you dream it?"

"Yeah! I actually think Jonathan is trying to help us!"

"I'll call Xemnas. This can't wait."

--

Twenty minutes later found 13 disgruntled exorcists in the Records Room.

"Now, what was so important that it had to wake us up at _3 in the morning?_" Larxene growled, pushing her hair out of her face. Axel turned a bleary stare on her.

"You look funny without gel in your hair."

"Shut it, hedgehog!"

"Calm down everyone," Xemnas said, and immediately there was silence. "Now, Zexion and Roxas have brought it to my attention that Victor was never buried in the graveyard. Instead, his body was never found."

"What?" asked Demyx. He hadn't been listening when Zexion was telling him earlier.

"Huh," was all Axel could come up with.

The meeting continued with all of the exorcists forming plans and deciding how to move on from there. Axel slipped out of the circle and covered Roxas's mouth with his hand.

"Shhh…" he whispered as he dragged the boy backward and behind a bookshelf. Mentally, Axel had been preparing himself for this for days. But now that the time was here, he didn't know if he could do it.

"What?" Roxas snapped irritably. It was too early to be manhandled. Axel placed his hands on either side of Roxas's face and leaned in, taking a deep breath. Roxas fidgeted.

"Kid, will you go out with me?"

* * *

What will Roxas say? The next chapter's up, go find out!

But first, REVIEW!

EDIT: Due to continuity errors, I had to rewrite art of this chapter to make Victor Axel's _great-grandfather_. Everything works out, now.


	8. Victor's body!

Well, here is another short installment to keep you people happy. And I'm sorry if I confused you by saying the 'end was a bit sudden'. I meant the end of that chapter, not the end of the story. This chapter is being put up to satisfy you all until Saturday, since it's unlikely I'll be able to write anything on Friday (or at least later, it's already Friday here ) since I've designated Friday as homework day. But anyway, on with the fic!

All previous disclaimers apply.

* * *

For many long moments, Roxas said nothing. Axel waited nervously while Roxas stared.

"Well," he finally exploded, "say something!" Roxas blinked.

"I'm sorry?" Roxas tried. Axel's face fell. Was the kid saying no? But he continued. "Someone put you up to this, didn't they? Who? Was it Damien from third period? That jerk." Roxas shrugged out of Axel's grasp. He had been teased by the other kids about his obvious "gay-ness," but he'd thought Axel was different. He'd thought Axel was a better person. He'd certainly _seemed_ friendly.

Axel was left staring at Roxas's back. But Roxas had only gone about five steps when Axel seized him by the shoulders and swung him around.

"Wha—?" Roxas stuttered, before he was cut off.

By Axel's mouth.

Roxas all but melted into the kiss. Axel had a _very_ skilled mouth. Roxas was left gasping when Axel pulled away.

"No one put me up to it kid, this one's all me. Now what do you say?"

"O-okay."

* * *

They returned to the group just as the meeting adjourned. Zexion took one look at Roxas's startled face and Axel's cat-ate-the-canary grin and kept walking. Demyx wasn't as smart. But hey, he wanted to hear all about it.

He and Axel walked away together, no doubt talking about what had just happened, while Larxene went up to Roxas.

"He hits you like a tidal wave, huh?" Roxas looked up. "Same thing happened to me. Axel and I, we were never meant to be. Just a fling, you see. But you're different." She appraised him carefully. Roxas shifted under her gaze.

"I've never seen him in love like this kid, so be careful. If you so much as make him cry, I will beat you black and blue."

"Larxene, das ist genug. (1)" Marluxia was waiting by the door. Larxene sent Roxas one more look before moving to leave with Marluxia, who gave her a pointed look.

"Gute Nacht, Roxas. (2)"

Roxas just nodded and sank into a chair. He sat there well into the morning, all alone.

* * *

"Roxas, tell me," Zexion began one morning in early July, "have you ever had the dreams when you weren't in your room, beside the one on the way here?"

"No, I don't think so," Roxas replied, thinking back.

"Hmm." So far, the search for Victor's body had yielded no results whatsoever, good or bad. It was frustrating to say the least.

"Have you had anymore dreams?"

"Nope, none. I have seen Victor's spirit around either." Zexion 'hmmed' again, but moved on to lighter subjects.

"So, today marks your two month anniversary with Axel, does it not?" Roxas blushed, but nodded.

"Yeah. We've been given permission to go off school grounds to get dinner. Axel said he had something planned." Zexion turned to look at Roxas with an air of utmost seriousness.

"Be careful, and God help you," he managed, before he started to laugh. Roxas laughed too, while musing on the positive effect Demyx seemed to be having on his boyfriend.

* * *

Roxas had almost convinced himself that he had stopped having weird dreams. And he had, really, but something else had taken its place.

It had started out small, just a faint odor that wasn't really detectable. Demyx didn't seem to notice, so Roxas put it off as something that happened every year.

But slowly, it had gotten worse. For three weeks, Roxas had put up with the smell of—of _something_, and in his opinion that was far too long. It was almost impossible to breathe in his room anymore, but Demyx seemed unaffected. Finally, Roxas had had enough.

"Can't you smell that?!" he asked one day while they were getting ready for school. Demyx looked up.

"Smell what?"

"_That!_ That rotting stench!" Demyx experimentally sniffed the air.

"Nope." Roxas quickly pulled on his shirt, but didn't stop to button it on the way out. He collided with Axel in the hallway.

"Hey kid, what's the hurry?" he asked, appreciatively eyeing Roxas's chest. Roxas blushed and began to button his shirt up.

"It smells nasty in my room."

"Well, that's probably Demyx's fault." A muffled, "Stuff you, Axel," was heard from the other room. Zexion joined in on the conversation as he headed out of his room for coffee.

"Smell? What sort of smell?" Zexion added a precise amount of sugar to his coffee and picked up his mug.

"A sort of rotting smell. But Demyx doesn't smell it, so I might just be imagining it." Zexion dropped his coffee mug. His eyes had grown wide, and he seemed to be sucked into his own world.

Then, heedless of the remains of his shattered cup, Zexion turned and sprinted off down the hallway.

"Xemnas, _Xemnas!_" Axel and Roxas watched him go, both equally bewildered. All of the smart student got out of his way.

* * *

"Stand back, this is going to get messy," Xaldin cautioned, before prying up the first of the floorboards. Roxas's hand flew to his face, trying to block out the smell. None of the others could smell it, and that just proved the fact. Victor's body was here, in Roxas's floor.

Sure enough, after several more boards were pried away, a skeleton was revealed. Roxas slipped behind Axel.

"It was in my _floor_?" he groaned. "Great. No wonder I've been having such weird dreams." Demyx moved forward with the salt, but Zexion stopped him.

"No, wait. We need to be sure that the remains are what's keeping him here. There's only one way to do that." Demyx nodded.

"I'll go call her, then."

"Call who?" Roxas asked.

"My little sister, Naminé."

* * *

"Naminé? I know Naminé!" Demyx turned from where he stood in the doorway.

"You do?" he seemed genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, she and I were good friends back in Twilight Town. But then again, it could have been a different Naminé."

"What did she look like?"

"Short-ish, light blond hair, where's a white dress—"

"That's her! Man, small world, huh?"

* * *

"Demyx!"

"Hey Naminé! How've you been? Mom treating you right?"

"Yeah. How about you? Have you seen Dad at all?"

"Not since he dropped me here two years ago." Demyx made a rueful face. "I don't miss him much, though." Naminé moved off through the exorcists, greeting each in turn. Until she came to the last one.

"Ah, I see that there's a new face—Roxas?! Roxas!" He really hadn't seen the hug coming. Naminé was usually such a shy girl.

"Hey Naminé! How is everyone back in Twilight Town?"

"They're okay. They miss you, though. Oh, and Hayner started dating Seifer."

"Oh. Wait, what? He failed to mention _that_ in his last letter." Naminé giggled.

"Don't be too hard on him."

"Him? No, I just need to chew out Seifer! Maybe when break comes…" Naminé laughed again, but soon grew serious.

"So, what did you guys need me for?"

* * *

"No, I'm sorry to say that the spirit isn't attached to these remains, at least, not chiefly. You would have little effect if you just torched them," Naminé informed them.

"I still say we do it anyway, to be safe," Axel said.

"Probably a good idea."

"Naminé, I didn't know you could do stuff like this. Why didn't you tell me back home?" Roxas asked. Naminé let out a delicate snort.

"Roxas, if I had told you I was psychic back home, would you have believed me?"

"…Probably not."

"Exactly. But I'm glad you know now."

"So, what happens now?" Demyx asked as he led Naminé over to a chair by the wall. She looked pretty exhausted.

"Now we prepare for the cult ritual," Zexion said.

* * *

"We should do it on the twenty-first of August, they date of the murder," Xemnas informed them.

"Right, that spirits will be out then. All of 'em. Just knock 'em all off in one go," Larxene nodded. "Makes sense."

"It will also be very dangerous for Roxas," Zexion pointed out. "They're going to be targeting him."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Xemnas assured him. "Axel, Zexion, I need both of you to start meditations with him, to heighten his energy.

"All right," Zexion said.

"Can do, Boss man," Axel agreed, giving a slight salute.

"Well then, meeting adjourned. I would advise everyone to prepare. We have one hell of a night coming up."

* * *

1 "Larxene, that is enough." Sorry if it's wrong, I can't reach my translator!

2 "Good night, Roxas." Once again, my apologies!

Now, I'm sorry for any/all mistakes mad either in German or regular English but it's freaking 3:44 in the morning here and I haven't gotten any sleep. Now, I am going to go to sleep and hope that I will have many nice reviews by the time I wake up. (Don't worry, you'll have until about noon, maybe later.)


	9. Another dream

Okay, here's today's update. It's short, but I like it. Hopefully you will too. This chapter has the anniversary date in it, since I felt bad for skipping it in the last chapter. :D

All previous disclaimers apply.

SMACK IT!

* * *

Roxas had been assured that the nightmares would stop once Victor's body had been salted and removed, but they had only gotten worse. It was like Victor's spirit knew that it's time for revenge was lessening with the discovery of the body. But this one had been particularly brutal.

He was shaking as he climbed into Axel's bed. They were sharing a room while Roxas's floorboards were fixed. Not that he really wanted to stay in there again. Axel groggily opened his eyes.

"Hey, Rox. What's the matter?"

"I had another dream. This time, I saw everyone in the ballroom die." Axel winced and pulled Roxas closer.

"Well, here, think about something else. Think about our anniversary." Roxas smiled. Yes, that had been fun. He closed his eyes, and remembered.

_Roxas couldn't decide what to wear. Axel had said to wear something nice, but nothing too dressy. He had been there for an hour and a half trying to decide what to wear_

"_This is ridiculous!" he snapped at himself. "You're acting like a girl." So, throwing caution into the wind, Roxas reached into his closet and pulled out the first thing he could find. It was as good a strategy as any. He came out with white pants and a dark blue button down shirt. Not bad._

_He was almost done getting dressed when there was a knock on the door._

"_Ready, kid?"_

"_Almost! Just a sec!" Roxas quickly slipped the last button into place, checked his hair in the mirror, and opened the door. And there was Axel._

_Roxas's mouth went dry._

_Axel was wearing a black polo shirt and blue jeans, not all that uncommon. But he was gorgeous._

"_You look great, Roxy," Axel offered. Roxas swallowed._

"_You too."_

_They got in Axel's car ("Don't worry kid, I'm eighteen. I _do_ have my license.") and drove down to a cute café down by the bay._

"_Table for two, please," Axel told the waitress. She smiled._

"_Right this way."_

_After dinner (which had consisted of salad, bread, sandwiches, and pastries) they went down to sit by the neighboring lake. It being July, the water and the air were both warm. Axel wasted no time taking his shirt off._

"_What—what are you doing?" Roxas spluttered as Axel reached down to undo his jeans._

"_Going swimming," he replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then, as he noticed how pink Roxas was, he chuckled and let go of his pants button. "You're right, it's only the two month anniversary. I'll leave my pants on." And he took a running start off the end of the dock and dove straight into the water. Roxas waited on shore for a few minutes, holding Axel's discarded shirt._

_A cry of, "Well, what are you waiting for? Are you too much of a chicken to be seen in comparison to my glory?" shook him out of his daze. Sighing, he carefully removed his own shirt._

"_You're insufferable, Axel," he said before springing in a graceful swan dive off the end of the dock. He was underwater, and missed Axel's wolf whistle and shout of "That's more like it!" Just as well._

_They swam for a long time before Axel decided that he wanted ice cream. So they got out of the water and let the air dry them as they made their way back to the car. Even though the hour was growing late, the air dried them quickly. They put their shirts back on and drove back into town._

_They stopped at a small shop and bought sea-salt ice cream, one of Roxas's favorites from back home in Twilight Town. They walked down to the edge of the water and watched the sun sink slowly down to the horizon._

_Just as Roxas finished his ice cream, the sun slipped below the water line. Axel leaned over._

"_Happy anniversary, kid," and kissed him. _

--

Roxas woke happy the next day, for the first time in months. He gently pulled out of Axel's loose grasp and headed down the hallway to grab some of his clothes. He didn't really want to go back in there, but it was necessary. He hadn't moved into Axel's room officially. Yet.

The thing was, he should have felt it. The odd presence that lingered in the hallway, followed him through the door wasn't an unfamiliar one. He didn't feel it until the floor rushed up to meet him. Then everything went black.

--

_The moon shone down across the grounds as the figure made it's silent way across the grass. He had ditched his two companions and the girl he'd slept with at the tavern and was now headed back to the mansion, where he had left Victor. He couldn't just leave him there._

_Jonathan was very careful not to be seen; by anyone or any_thing_. He didn't know what to expect when he pushed the front door open, but it certainly wasn't what awaited him. The dead bodies littered the floor, mouths opened in silent pleas for mercy. Shutting his eyes, he sprinted off down the corridor to Victor's room._

_Throwing the door open, Jonathan crouched down by Victor's side, sobbing brokenly into his chest._

"_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." In a sudden flash of clarity, he knew what he had to do. Victor had always said he didn't want to be buried in a cemetery. He knew just what he'd do._

_The floorboards came away surprisingly easy. The empty space beneath them formed a nice cave, a nice place where Victor would be safe. Now he could stay forever in the place where they had shared so many good memories._

_Jonathan laid Victor down in the hole and kissed his forehead. He positioned Victor so that he would be comfortable, closed his love's eyes, and slid out back into the world above._

"_I love you," he whispered, and sealed the boards back into place._

_The water level was high, the current moving swiftly. It threatened to whisk him off his feet at any moment. But Jonathan couldn't bring himself to care. It wouldn't matter in a minute, anyway._

_The gun felt heavier than it should have in his hand. It was Victor's; Jonathan had removed it from the suit pocket before entombing his love in the floor. He wanted very much to be buried with his beloved, but no, he didn't deserve it. Not after what he'd done._

_He turned to face the mansion. It stared silently back, not judging him. Slowly breathed in ._

_He raised the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger._

* * *

Well, there you go, the end. That's all she wrote, that's the very end of the line. ...Just kidding. XD There will be more to come, hopefully soon, school work allowing. Please stay tuned, and review!


	10. AN: Dearest Loyal Readers

Dear loyal readers,

I apologize for the (great) delay, but must inform you that the next chapter may not be up for a _very_ long while. There is no forgivable reason or excuse for this fact, just that I am a lazy procrastinator who has only written 4 paragraphs since the last chapter was posted. My laptop has been taken away by the school (as it is the end of the year) and I am reduced to writing on my home computer. …It may take a while. I beg for your forgiveness though I do not deserve it, and plead that you stay with me still. I will do my best.

So very sorry,

Tube

P.S. Have hope! I am making an Oblivion keyblade and my sister is making the Oathkeeper, so I'll feel in the mood for KH soon.

P.P.S. I also bought vol. 2 of KH2 so that should help as well. Please have faith in me!


	11. AN: Lost in Translation

Dear Loyal Readers,

I know, normally when I post an Author's Note it's to tell you that the chapter isn't going well and will be up in a very long time. Not this time, though. This time, I need your help.

I'm not going to pretend that I can speak foreign languages, so any help you all can give me on this. If anyone can tell me how to say 'Oblivion is Eternal' (or something close to it, as I don't think all languages have a word for oblivion) in Dutch, French, Spanish, Japanese, African (please tell me the dialect if you reply for this one), and Russian, please let me know. As you might be able to tell, I'm planning something big. (:

Once again, if you or anyone you know can help me, please contact me through comment/PM. If I don't get translations by people, I'll have to rely on an internet text translator program, and trust me, no one wants to see that. It would be an assault to everyone who speaks those languages.

The next chapter should be up soon, or as soon as I can get help with this. Man, that sounds like blackmail, doesn't it? But I might post something sooner, just to tide you over.

Thank you in advance for the help,  
Tube 3

I'll fill this in with credits as we go along:

Dutch: De vergetelheid is Eeuwig (thank you, Babel Fish text translator. Corrections welcome.)  
French: l'oubli est éternel (thank you, sana-chan9 and grapedragon)  
Spanish: el olvido es eterno (thank you, Kikyo Uchiha, Roxas-Has-A-Stick, and DarkHenrych)  
Japanese: Eien no Boukyaku/Eien no Shitsunen (thank you, Cerebra Leader Aoki)  
African:  
Russian: Забвение вечно (thank you, Babel Fish text translator. Corrections welcome.)


	12. Twilight Townies

Hello everyone! Because you've all been so helpful with my translation needs, I've decided to post this chapter as a thank you. We're getting close to the end now, I can feel it. So just sit back and enjoy this chapter of Oblivion is Eternal!

* * *

It came faster than anyone anticipated. Roxas, now a moderately capable exorcist, was allowed to exorcise spirits on his own (without a watchful guardian), and he had even mastered the chants and hand signs that would give the rosary more power. Like Axel had noticed before, the kid learned fast. But no amount of training could prepare him, or anyone else, for what was about to happen.

--

August 21 dawned as a normal day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, etc. and everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone. Thirteen people were tense, awaiting the inevitable.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily, the 21rst was a day off. So that gave Roxas a whole day to focus on nothing but the task ahead. Roxas had convinced his mother to let him stay at school for the week's break. He said he was behind, and she believed him. Almost too easily, Roxas thought wryly.

"Should we evacuate the school?" Demyx asked at the meeting.

"We can't, it would arouse suspicion," Saix replied.

"But we could say a gas main exploded or something!" the blonde argued.

"No, because then people would make us leave, too, Demyx," Zexion reminded him in a patient voice.

"Oh yeah."

"What about a mandatory movie night?" Roxas asked, and everyone turned to look at him.

"A _what?_" they all said.

"Mandatory movie night," the boy replied again. "We had them all the time at my old school. You force everyone into the same room and make them watch a movie. It was actually more fun than it sounds." The others blinked.

"Hmm, a mandatory movie night, eh?" Xemnas mused. "Sounds like fun. We'd have to have people on the inside, though, people we can trust. All of us will be needed tonight."

"What about Naminé?" Demyx asked. "Though I hate to put her in a situation like this…"

"I can ask Hayner, Pence, Ollette, and Seifer to come in, too."

"We can't. Having 'normal' added just makes it harder."

"You don't understand. Those guys all belonged to a club similar to this one, 'cept Seifer. But his dad was a ghost hunter so I imagine he'll be all right. I never joined 'cause I thought they were crazy." Roxas shuffled his feet in embarrassment.

"Kinda like us, huh kid?" Axel remarked, smirking.

"Yeah. Kinda like you. But keep in mind that my mind hasn't changed completely."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Calm down," Saix interjected. "Tell us more about this club."

"Like I said, it's kind of like this one. They met every other night. They had…I don't want to call them rosaries – well they weren't –"

"Slow down."

"Right. They had…stars; that was it. Necklaces with star pendants." Xemnas and Saix exchanged glances.

"Roxas, tell me. Do you know someone named Cid?"

"Cid? Yeah. He owned the auto shop down the street."

"Yeah, that's him." Xemnas pursed his lips.

"What?"

"He and Cid had a disagreement a while back, you see," Axel filled in.

"Yeah," Demyx added. "I heard it was quite a spectacle. You were there, right Zex?"

The young man nodded. "I was," he affirmed as he slid his eyes over to watch Xemnas pace back and forth.

"Well what was it about?"

"Xemnas's brother and Cid's adopted kid. Sephiroth and Cloud had a kind of…well, they had a complicated past."

"Wait wait wait. Sephiroth is Xemnas's brother?!"

"You know him?"

"Yeah! He's a creep!"

"How do you…?"

"I met him. I've never met Cloud though."

"Not true, kid. Cloud Strife. He's our History teacher. Haven't you ever wondered why we always had meetings during History?"

"_That's_ Cloud? That's the guy Leon's going out with?"

"Yup. How did you meet Le—"

"That's not important," Xemnas interrupted, placing his fingers on his temples. "How fast can they get here? We'll need all the help we can get."

Miles away, a black cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"_Seifer?"_

"Roxas?" The blonde man pulled away from the sandy brunette he had been talking to. "What is it?"

"Roxas?" asked Hayner. "Give me the phone! I want to talk to him!" Seifer stopped Hayner's dash for the phone by placing his hand on the boy's forehead and keeping him at arm's length.

"_Seifer, listen, this is gonna sound _really_ weird, but have you ever exorcized ghosts?"_

There was a few minutes of silence.

"What was that, lamer?" Seifer asked. He could almost hear Roxas cringe on the other side.

"What? What are you talking about?" Hayner whined.

"_Ghosts. Have you ever exorcized them?"_ Seifer was impressed. The kid had said it twice. That took guts. Seifer decided to take pity on the boy.

"Yeah, I have."

There was obvious relief in Roxas's voice when he spoke again.

"_Okay. Can you come give us a hand, here at my new boarding school? We have a _massive_ exorcism to do tonight and we can't evacuate the school without panic."_

"You're going to Oblivion, right?"

"_Right."_

"I can be there in a few hours."

"_Great, thanks Seifer. Can I talk to Hayner?"_

Ollette was doing Naminé's hair when her phone rang.

"Hang on a sec, babe," she said with a wink and giggled when Naminé shifted uncomfortably.

"Please don't call me that," she whispered.

"Ha ha ha ha…Hello?"

"_Ollette?"_

"Roxas!" Her shout attracted the attention of the blonde man at the counter and the brunette boy sitting in the chair, as well as Naminé's.

"Roxas?" Pence asked.

"Roxas?" Cid asked.

"Oh," said Naminé. She sat back and waited for a call from Demyx.

"_Hey Ollette, I have a favor to ask of you and Pence. Cid too, if he'll come."_

"Sure thing Rox, ask away."

"_Are you guys still in that…club?"_

"The exorcizing ghosts one that you thought was a load of crap? _That_ club?"

"…_Yeah, that one."_

"Yeah, why?"

"_I need you're help."_

"With…ghosts? Are you teasing me?" Pence and Cid were staring now, and Naminé calmly answered her ringing phone.

"Yes, Demyx?"

"_No, I'm not teasing you. I believe that ghosts are real now."_

"Oh, why is that?"

"_It's because…"_

"Yes?"

"_Because I joined an exorcist club here."_ Ollette's eyebrows hit her hairline.

"Why on Earth?"

"_Because the minute I got here I started being attacked by homicidal spirits who were being trapped in the house by the spirit of my murderer grandfather's dead lover. I'm in pretty deep shit." _

"Oh my God, how did that happen?"

"_It's too long a story to tell over the phone, but I need help. There are only 13 of us, plus Seifer and Hayner, against a hundred or more of them."_

"Don't worry Roxas, we're on our way." She glanced around at Pence, still oblivious about Roxas's problem, Cid, who might be hard to convince because of his feud with Xemnas, and Naminé, who was already gathering her stuff.

"We're on our way," she said again. "All of us."

--

They stood, assembled in the courtyard like soldiers before the battle that would end the war. Cid and the others from his group stood slightly apart from the black robed figures that stood in a strait, silent line facing them. After a few moments, one of the cloaked figures broke out of the line.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Roxas said, pulling down his hood. The two people who had stepped out behind him also pulled their hoods down.

"No problem," Seifer said, eyeing the pointy red hair the hood had revealed.

"Oh, this is Axel," Roxas said, gesturing over his right shoulder. "And this is Demyx, Naminé's brother." The blonde waved.

"I'm Zexion," said the figure on the end of the line. He removed his hood, revealing a shock of blue hair. The rest pulled their hoods down as they introduced themselves.

"I'm Xaldin."

"Xigbar."

"I'm Larxene."

"Marluxia."

"Lexaeus."

"Luxord."

"Vexen."

"I'm vice-principal Saix."

"And I," said the last person, "am Xemnas."

Cid's eyes narrowed. Xemnas pressed his lips together and drew in a deep breath.

"Look Cid, we're going to settle this right now. I'm _sorry_ for my brother's actions, but I am not in charge of him, nor can I control him. It's not my fault. Take it up with him." Cid sighed.

"Fine."

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's move on to business," Zexion said, pulling a book out from under his arm. Roxas, Demyx, and Axel stepped back into line. Opening the book, Zexion stepped into the middle and began to pace.

"I'll…mind-melt this to you all later, but they need to hear the process." Zexion opened his mouth to begin.

"Wait" if this 'mind melting' is anything like Shared Trance then we all can handle it." Zexion looked startled. Xemnas looked smug.

"See Axel? _That's_ what it's called."

Axel stuck his tongue out at Xemnas.

"All right." Without speaking everyone formed a circle.

"Zexion, you need to lead this. If I do it, I might miss something important." Zexion took a deep breath and nodded. Taking Axel's and Demyx's hands, he closed his eyes and breathed. Then his eyes snapped open.

"Wecken Sie, mein Gedächtnis."

_A floor plan of the school stretched out in front of Roxas's eyes. As he watched, a thirteen pointed star appeared in the center of the first floor._

"_This," Zexion's voice rang out, "is the exact center of the school and the property. Listen carefully." Roxas waited as Zexion gathered his thoughts._

"_Those who hail from Twilight Town, take note of the room highlighted in blue. This room will contain all of the students who live here at the school. Your job is to guard this room and make sure nothing enters – or leaves." Roxas could almost feel the agreement coming from the others._

"_Organization." Roxas's focus snapped back to the floor plan. " Listen, you each have a color, to make things easier._

"_Roxas – Red. Axel – Orange. Demyx – Yellow. Saix – Green. Larxene – Blue. Luxord – Purple. Marluxia – Pink. Vexen – Lime. Xigbar –Navy. Xaldin – Lavender. Lexaeus – Teal. Xemnas – Black. And I am white." A wave of impatience cut off all complaints._

"_Your color will draw a line to the point of the star you are to occupy. Any questions?" Zexion's voice seemed to fade slightly. Roxas felt a little of his energy leave his body._

'_Zexion's fading,' he realized._

_He watched the red line spread until it reached the fountain where he had first met Axel. He wondered, dimly, if the head would be there. Probably calling him Jonathan. _

"_Everyone…got…it?" Zexion breathed. There was an echo of various agreements and the connection ended._

Roxas's eyes snapped open as Demyx's hand ripped itself from his and flew to support Zexion.

"Zex? _Zex!_" The blue-haired boy's eyes didn't open. "_Zexion!_"

"He's sleeping," Xemnas said. "That took more energy than he could spare. But he gave me the rest of the plan with what energy he had left.

"Basically, we all go into Shared Trance at the center of the star and then release hands, still in the Trance. You go to your point on the star, hold your rosary in your right hand, put it over your heart and speak 'Oblivion is Eternal' in any language you please. Touch you r left hand to your forehead and hold your right arm out strait and close your eyes.

There should be cold, and then you will hear the screaming. When every scream has stopped, the ritual will be over and you can all rest and release your minds. That is all." Xemnas looked around at the circle of people and smiled.

"Don't look so scared. We'll all be fine." As if to emphasize this point, Zexion's eyes flickered open. Demyx pulled him close.

"I just hope you're up to Mind Melting for that long, Xemnas," said Xaldin.

"Xemnas?" Zexion questioned weakly. "No, it has to be Roxas."

--

Roxas froze. Everything around him seemed to slow down to an unrealistic pace.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, and his voice sounded far away and unused to his ears. Everyone else was looking from him to Zexion and back. Axel's eyes didn't move from Roxas's white face. Roxas cleared his throat.

"What?" he tried again. Zexion, with Demyx's help, pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"It has to be you, Roxas. You need to be the leader of this particular Trance."

"Why!?" Everyone turned to Axel. His outburst had startled them all.

"Because he's the one they're after," Naminé said softly, realizing the truth.

"Exactly," Zexion nodded. "You see, any one of us would be able to lead it in a normal ritual of this scale. But, since there is a focus—"

"I remember," Roxas said quietly. "If there is a focus of the malignant energy, it either has to be present at the exorcism, right in the center, or destroyed."

"And we're not about to destroy you," Xemnas said. "We also can't spare you."

"Why not?" Axel all but snarled. All eyes went to him again.

"What's with the intense reaction, Axel?" asked Demyx. "It's not really _that_ bad news." Axel turned a withering glare on him.

"Be_cause_," he growled, "inexperienced people have _died_ from exerting themselves with this! Zexion _passed out_ and he's been doing this for years!"

Silence fell.

"Great," Roxas whispered. Axel quickly turned to him.

"Damnit, I'm sorry Roxas. I never should have—"

"No, it's better that I know what I'm getting myself into before I decide."

"I'll ask again," Axel said, turning to Xemnas, "why can't we spare him? All of these people heard the instructions!" He gestured at Cid's group, who were watching quietly, not getting involved either way; but Hayner, Pence, and Ollette looked like they wanted to join Axel and tell Xemnas where to stick it. "They're all trained, aren't they?! It's almost like you want Roxas to get killed!"

"Axel!" barked Zexion, "you're creating chaos." Indeed, some of the other exorcists were starting to look leery about using Roxas at all. They also had some indescribable looks trained on Zexion. Demyx moved behind Zexion and put a protective hand on his shoulder, glaring around at the others.

"Listen," Xemnas's voice broke out of the murmurings and drew all eyes to him. "Axel, it's terrible that you suggest that Zexion wants Roxas dead." Axel looked away from the calm face for a moment in shame. "We understand that you want to protect Roxas, but trust me, he'll be safer performing the ritual."

"Why can't we just have him at the center of the star?" Axel asked, but he sounded less confident now.

"Because," Zexion said, suddenly sounding weak and very tired, "it's dangerous there." Axel looked confused.

"Why?"

"Didn't you pay attention at all during the lessons I gave you?" Zexion snapped. He was fading fast back into unconsciousness. "You aren't allowed to do any other exorcizing after the cult ritual has begun. At least, not with a silver rosary, as all of our rosaries are connected. It diverts the flow of energies." Zexion paled and leaned back against Demyx, closing his eyes.

"Zex—"

"Roxas doesn't have time to learn how to handle a star pendant, so don't even start on that. They are more unpredictable than rosaries and he could end up making his hand disappear instead of the spirit." Axel flinched. "And in case you didn't know, the center of the school on the first floor happens to be the center of the cafeteria. All of the spirits are there. He'll be ripped apart before we could say two words." Zexion collapsed back into Demyx and closed his eyes. Demyx picked him up and laid him on a nearby bench.

"Besides," said Xemnas, "Cid's group doesn't have rosaries. All of the channeling devices have to be the same and we don't have any rosaries to spare. You can't use someone else's rosary to exorcize spirits."

Once again, all eyes shifted direction and landed on Roxas. Though his face was white with apprehension, he nodded.

"All right, I'll do it."

* * *

Dun dun duh. What will happen now? ...I don't exactly know. Damn. Anyway, I realized that it's very fun to write as Seifer. Maybe I just enjoy calling Roxas 'lamer.' A mystery.

Anyway, another _very big_ thank you to my translators. I really couldn't have done it without you; my grammar would be horrible. And a very big thank you to my readers and reviewers. You all make me want to write!

**_VIELEN DANK!!_**


	13. Down To One Last Breath

Alrighty, then. I know this one is shorten than most of the rest, but I wanted to get it up because something very important happens in it. _**THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER.**_ I know that at the end of every chapter I say, "The next one is the last," but this time, I am telling you know that niether this chapter or the next is the last. But the next one might also be very short.

Without further ado, the chapter.

* * *

"Now then," said Xemnas, who was standing across from Roxas. The other members of the Organization and the Twilight Town residents had all gone off to either prepare themselves mentally for what would be the biggest exorcism they were likely to face or getting the news of the Mandatory Movie Night out around the school. "This is the most difficult form of Shared Trance known. In fact, some say that it belongs under a completely different name. It has become known as Shared Consciousness."

"Shared Consciousness?" Roxas asked, looking dubious.

"Yes. It occurs when the group is joined, not by a memory, but just by the energy. Their minds connect and all thoughts and feelings become one. In that instant, you would love Axel, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene, feel Saix's frustration over the students, Marluxia's anger at his parents, and anything else that the exorcists had felt, ever."

"And they would feel all that I had felt?"

"Yes, that's right. Once you begin this Shared Consciousness, your mind is no longer your own. Shall we begin?" Roxas nodded distractedly.

Xemnas had Roxas practice reaching out to the other minds of the exorcists, seeing how many he could control at once. Also, he had to determine whether or not Roxas could keep control of them, once he had them. It was proving difficult.

"I'm trying as hard as I can!" Roxas panted, eyes slipping shut as he fought off another wave of exhaustion.

"Xemnas," Zexion said, "if we don't stop this, he won't have enough energy for tonight. If he needs more spiritual energy, we'll give him all we can give. All we can spare." Xemnas nodded. He'd have to be content with that.

"Get some sleep Roxas," Xemnas said softly as Axel picked the boy up. "All of our hopes are resting on you."

At 9:00, Roxas was awakened by a seeping cold that sunk deep into his bones and chilled his heart. He didn't need the nod from Axel to know that it was time. He felt full of energy, a sort of staticky chill flowing throughout his body. He just hoped it was enough to get through the ritual.

Nodding silently to the red haired man by the door, Roxas stood up and pulled on his cloak, zipping it all the way up to his chin. The sound of the metal was all that broke the silence. Roxas moved to pull on his boots, only to have his elbow seized by a black-gloved hand.

"You don't have to do this," Axel hissed desperately. "Please. We'll just get them one by one." Roxas looked at him sadly. "You have a choice, damnit!"

"No," Roxas sighed. It was a quiet breath, barely a word, but it hung between them like a concrete wall. "I have no choice. I have to do this."

The hand let go.

--

When Roxas entered the exorcist headquarters, eleven tense faces stared back at him from under shadowed hoods. Axel walked stiffly in behind him, anger and fear radiating off him in waves. Roxas wanted to be mad at him. He wanted to shout at Axel for being stupid and protective and for putting them all at risk, but he couldn't. If their roles had been reversed, Roxas knew he would be acting exactly the same way.

Without a word, the exorcists formed a circle. Though the lights were working, they were shut off and all of the candles were lit. Mandatory Movie Night had started an hour ago, so the crew from Twilight Town was not around, but Roxas could feel their presence humming through the school, just as he could feel the spirits waking. When all hands were joined, Xemnas spoke.

"In half an hour, we will be one. Everything you have thought, said, or done will be known by the other 12 members. But sometimes, it is better to tell then to let it be discovered. Before we begin, is there anything anyone would like to say?"

For a moment, no one spoke. Then, Demyx let go of Zexion's and Roxas's hands and stepped into the middle. Roxas and Zexion joined their hands without a glance at each other.

"When I was young, my father abused me. He told me that it happened to everyone, that it was nothing out of the ordinary. I believed him. When my mother found out that he was mistreating us, she took Naminé and ran. She didn't take me because I had told her earlier that I was gay." He turned and walked back to the circle, effortlessly slipping back into the anonymity that the black cloak circle provided.

Zexion was next.

"I am afraid of cats." He turned and quietly rejoined the circle. Demyx chuckled and squeezed Zexion's hand.

Marluxia spoke next, but he did not leave his place in the circle.

"Ich liebe1..." he took a shallow breath and didn't continue. No one pushed him.

Axel stepped out next. "I am quite ready to propose to someone." And he stepped back into the circle.

Saix took one step forward. "I hate children. I despise them." Xemnas raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Larxene gave a reassuring squeeze to Marluxia's hand and spoke. "When I was thirteen, I was raped."

No one judged; everything was forgiven and accepted.

Xigbar closed his eyes. "When I was six, I watched someone get murdered. I did nothing."

Xaldin stared fearlessly out from under his hood. "I robbed a convenience store in middle school. That's why I'm here."

Roxas went last.

"I'm terrified. I don't know if I can do it. I'm afraid it won't work." Axel broke out of his spot across the circle and wrapped his arms around the boy.

"It'll be fine, kid. You'll be fine." He sounded choked up, like he was fighting back tears. "You'll be fine. You'll be fine." He sounded scared. Roxas hugged him back with all his strength.

"You're right. I'll be perfectly fine."

--

At 9:30, all points on the star were filled. Roxas held his hand toward the center. All around them, the spirits began to form, twirling around in patterns of age-old dance. He didn't stop to look at or listen to them as they slowly stopped dancing.

"Jonathan?"

"How could you Jonathan?"

He took a deep breath and slid his eyes closed, reaching out to everyone's minds.

"Aus unter vielen, einer."

Thirteen pairs of eyes flashed bright blue. Roxas was a bit disconcerted as he saw the world from all of the exorcists' eyes. He watched himself watch Zexion. He watched Marluxia and Xaldin and Xemnas all at once, from different eyes. He heard all of the thoughts as they raced through each exorcist's head.

_I feel dizzy._

_We need to go._

_Is that really how I look? Jeez!_

_We need to go._

_I'm cold._

_I'm hungry._

_We need to go._

_We need to go._

_We need to go._

In a motion of complete symmetry, all of the exorcists pulled their hands from the center of the star, turned, and strode towards their destinations. When one exorcist ran into a door or a wall, all of the rest paused until that exorcist moved again, always making sure to stay an even distance away from the center. They reached their points at the same time.

Roxas saw the head distractedly, seeing but not. He could feel his energy running out and knew, how, he didn't know, that he would not survive the exorcism. The practice had weakened him and he knew that the chant would take everything he had left. But he found that he didn't care. He wanted to make the school safe for Zexion and Demyx and Axel…Axel. He would miss Axel.

But now wasn't the time for these thoughts.

H pressed his rosary to his heart and breathed in. He wasn't afraid of dying.

Closing his eyes, he whispered "Oblivion is Eternal," and heard it echoed all around throughout the forest.

_De vergetelheid is Eeuwig. _Zexion.

_Oblivion is eternal._ Xemnas.

_L'oubli est éternel. _Larxene.

_El olvido es eterno. _Demyx.

_Oblivion is eternal._ Saix.

_Eien no Boukyaku. _Axel.

_Забвение вечно. _Luxord.

_Oblivion is eternal._ Vexen.

_Vergessen est ewig. _Marluxia.

_Oblivion is eternal._ Lexaeus.

_L'oubli est éternel._ Xigbar.

_Oblivion is eternal._ Xaldin.

The cold swept around him like it was trying to break him apart. The guests screamed, screamed louder than any spirit ever before. Roxas listened as if from a distance. He felt…disconnected from the rest of the world. His eyes opened. The cold felt more pressing to him. He was tired. The world was blurring.

He knew what was happening. If he didn't end the ritual now, he would die. If he stopped now, everything would have been in vain.

He didn't stop.

The screams continued as his vision dimmed. Finally, they began to fade and disappear. Roxas was unsure whether it was because they were ending or because he was too far gone to hear them anymore. One by one, the screams fell to silence. All but one.

All that was keeping him alive was his connection to the other twelve exorcists. If he ended the connection, he would die. The funny thing was, the connection was what was killing him. He couldn't force himself to be selfish and keep the others locked to his mind forever. Demyx had Zexion. Marluxia had Larxene. Saix had Xemnas. He had Axel.

Axel.

Desperately, Roxas pushed all of his energy into one last thought.

_I love you, Axel._

Roxas closed his eyes and let go.

* * *

1 "I love…"

* * *

Well now, how emo was that? Now what's going to happen? Who knows? (: Anyway, once again, thanks for all the support from all you lovely readers!

**_Now press that lilac-ish button down there._**


	14. Open Your Eyes

This chapter is very short, but very important.

* * *

_Roxas?_

He was floating, weightless in a sea of black. No sound, no motion, no breath. Everything was still. He couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not.

_Roxas?_

A voice. It rang jarringly throughout the omniscient silence.

_Roxas?_

"Yes?" It was nothing more than a breath, but it was loud. Louder than he had ever spoken before.

_How do you feel?_

"I—I don't know. How am I supposed to feel?"

_Only you can decide that. Do you like how you feel now?_

Roxas thought.

"Yes."

_WRONG._ It burst startlingly loud from nowhere, and then disappeared, giving way to the ever-present silence.

"I thought you said only I could decide…?"

_You should not feel comfortable here. You do not belong here._

"Here? Where is here?"

_Where do you think?_

"Am I dead?"

_Are you?_

"What?"

_Have you given up?_

Roxas thought.

"Given up on what?"

_Everything. Life? Love? Do they mean anything to you?_

"I—"

_Answer quickly._

He was about to say no, but something stopped him.

_Ah yes, the red-head. He still means something to you, yes?_

"…Yes, he does."

_Open your eyes._

"They _are_ open."

_No, they are not. Open your eyes._

"I—I don't want to." It shocked Roxas how true that statement was.

_Why not?_ The voice demanded.

"I'm tired. I feel…insubstantial."

_That isn't good, Roxas. Think of the red-head._

"What red-head?" he muttered. He felt cold, detached. Who was the red-head? …Who was he?

_Roxas! Don't. Don't let go._

He gave it an honest effort, he really did.

_Open your eyes!_

"…What?"

_Open. Your. Eyes. I will not allow you to give up._

"Axel…" Wait. Axel? _"Axel!" _Pictures of the spiky haired man flashed through his mind. Laughing, singing, frowning, crying…

Crying. Would he be crying now?

_Roxas. You're in danger. You need to open your eyes._

Axel. Axel. Axel.

_Roxas. Open your eyes._

He bit his lip. He was so tired. He was cold. He was comfortable here…

_NOW._

Roxas took a deep breath.

"Wait. Who are you?"

_You're going to meet me quite soon. Get up!_

Roxas's eyes opened.

* * *

There. Not so emo, now, is it?


	15. AN: Friendly Challenge!

Dear Loyal Readers,

This is not an alert to tell you that there is another chapter delay. Instead, this is a friendly challenge. Whoever can correctly guess the owner of the mystery voice will get a sneak preview of the next chapter. **PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWER IN A COMMENT. PM ME IT.** We wouldn't want people cheating, now would we?

**I know that I've told one (or two) of you that _someone _will be showing up. Please be honest and don't guess if I've already told you.**

The rules are as follows:

1. You must clearly state the name of the person you think it is.

2. You **_may not_** post this in a comment. I know I said it up there, but it's very important. You can find my _**PM**_ link on my profile.

3. When you PM me, please include the date and time (plus your time zone) so I can identify who got it right first.

4. If you do manage to guess it correctly, no gloating. I don't see why you would, but...just in case.

**_I WILL BE SENDING THE PREVIEW TO THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHO GET IT RIGHT. THE CONTEST WILL OPEN ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 AT 9 PM, EASTERN TIME. THAT WOULD BE 8 PM CENTRAL, 7 PM MOUNTAIN, AND 6 PM PACIFIC._**

Get ready to rumble!

Tube :3

**_EDIT: PLEASE OBSERVE: THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. ALL SPOTS HAVE BEEN FILLED BY OUR LUCKY WINNERS (disneydork, DarkHenrych, and I'll have some stupid cliche). YOU ARE STILL FREE TO GUESS, YOU JUST WON'T GET A SNEAK PREVIEW. YOU WILL GET A CONFIRMATION FROM ME THAT YOUR GUESS IS RIGHT AND BE SPARED THE AGONY OF WAITING TO KNOW WHO IT IS._**

Good luck!


	16. Upon My Oath

All right. Sorry this took so long to upload. I've had it done for a while, but my computer was having problems again. Also, homework kept me very busy. Anyway, enough excuses.

ONWARD!

* * *

The first thing he noticed was that it was dark. It shouldn't have surprised him, for he had been—dead? asleep?—for what must have been only a few minutes at most. But it had felt like an eternity.

Sitting up, or trying to, anyway, Roxas looked around shakily. He could feel the humidity of the air dampening his clothes and hair, but his vision was still unbelievably dark. As his vision lightened somewhat, his eyes landed on the fountain.

There was someone sitting on it.

Face bearing a look of immeasurable sorrow, Victor turned to look at him.

"Jonathan, why? Why would you do that to me? To them?" He looked down at the dead grass around the fountain. "I don't understand you. Perhaps…_I_ wasn't the one who didn't love the other?" Victor's sad gaze had become hard and angry.

He rose and began to walk menacingly toward Roxas. The boy had no strength to move.

"I don't know what kind of witchcraft you used, Jonathan, but it seems you are paying the price." He removed a small, silver revolver from the inside pocket of his bloody suit jacket and leveled it at Roxas's head. "Goodbye, Jonathan." He pulled the trigger.

Roxas braced for the impact. Axel had told him that if a spirit was angry enough, it could hurt you. He had just escaped death, and here he was, facing it again.

A small gasp of pain broke the silence. And then, nothing.

"Victor…" It was a quiet sigh, but it held so much feeling. "Victor, I love you." The spirit looked up.

"Jonathan…?" There, standing in front of Roxas with his arms spread wide, was Jonathan.

"Ah, me," he said, looking down at the hole in his chest. "You really did a number on me, didn't you Victor?"

Victor could only stare.

"Not that I don't deserve it," Jonathan continued. It was obvious that Victor's silence didn't bother him. "Go on, shoot me again."

Victor did nothing.

Unabated, Jonathan continued. "It's only natural that you should wish to kill me, after all I've done to you. I accused you of cheating, killed your lover, then killed _you_…" He sighed. "How awful."

"After all this time you still think I cheated on you!" Victor exploded. He leveled his gun at Jonathan's head. "You never change." He pulled the trigger twice.

Roxas watched as Jonathan's body flinched back, the second bullet hitting him harder. Roxas was suddenly glad that Jonathan was in front of him so he didn't have to see.

Jonathan's shoulders sagged.

"Ah me," he whispered again. "So much hatred." His voice was faint and far off. Roxas wondered if ghosts could die.

"Ah, me."

"Where is he?"

"I don't feel him."

"What do you mean you don't feel him?!"

"I don't!"

"Me either."

"Weder kann ich1."

"This is bad."

"Roxas?"

"_Roxas!"_

"Kid!"

They were all panicking. Not only had Roxas failed to meet up with them, but his presence had disappeared completely! Zexion had tried to the point of unconsciousness to find him and had failed, as had Xemnas. All of them were frantic.

But none as much as Axel.

His face had gone rather blank after Zexion had said he couldn't find Roxas. Out of all of them, even Xemnas, Zexion was the most attuned to their energies. If he couldn't find Roxas, then Roxas wasn't here. …Roxas wasn't here. Axel needed to find him.

"Zexion," he started, but Demyx held up a hand.

"Wait a sec," he said shakily. "Give him a minute to recover."

Zexion's eyes were open and looked slightly glazed over. Though he had tried three times unsuccessfully, he was convinced that he just wasn't looking hard enough. If he tried again, he would find Roxas.

"Snap him out of it," Axel said. "This is important." Demyx still looked hesitant, but he moved over to shake Zexion's shoulder.

"Zex," he whispered. "Zexion, come on. You're going to hurt yourself." Zexion blinked and shook his head.

"No…no, I can find him. I _will_ find him."

"Zex, Axel has a question. He says it's important."

Zexion looked despairingly up at Axel. "I'm sorry, Axel. I haven't found him yet. I'm trying…"

Axel knelt down and put his hands on Zexion's shoulders.

"It's all right. You're doing your best. Tell me, where was Roxas's point?"

"The fountain by the main road. Why?"

Though it hurt to say it, Axel told him.

"Even if his…spirit isn't there, his body will be."

Zexion looked pensive, and then shot up from his sitting position. "Let's go."

Jonathan watched Victor sadly as the man emptied the rest of his gun clip into the blond man's chest.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked when Victor was done. The man just breathed heavily, not saying a word. "Victor, I understand you're angry. You have every right to be. Just please, stop taking your frustrations out on my relative. If you do that, I might have to start taking mine out on yours."

Victor's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't."

"You're right," Jonathan conceded. "He's innocent. Why should he have to pay for your mistakes? I won't hurt him."

Victor looked relieved, but after a second, hid it.

"But my companions might."

Victor's eyes flew to the woods behind Jonathan, and Roxas turned around.

Emerging from the dense foliage were the two men from Roxas's first day at Oblivion. They looked different, older, more normal, but when their eyes fell on Victor the men from so long ago emerged.

"Victor Takibi, man of the hour," the dark haired man smirked. "Nice to see you again."

"Schuyler," Victor said curtly. He turned his attention to the foreigner. "Oblivion."

"How have you been, boy?"

Roxas stared, startled, at the two. Schuyler and Oblivion? Those were Zexion and Xemnas's last names! He wondered if they knew. But then again, couldn't they have been completely different families? For their sake, he hoped it was true.

"You see," Jonathan said a bit sadly, "my companions have taken a liking to the boy and if anything were to happen to him, well…they don't listen to me that well."

"Threats," Victor said angrily. "I guess you have changed, Jonathan."

"The truth does that to people. Hard reality." He locked his icy eyes onto Victor's. "You were cheating on me."

"No, Jonathan, I wasn't. You need to understand that. You killed me for no reason."

Roxas could tell that those words hurt Jonathan, but his grandfather was resolute.

"If you weren't cheating on me, Victor, then how do you explain the presence of your great-grandson? Who is, in fact, is coming this way as we speak. Along with yours, Koen." The dark eyed man grinned.

"Great. I've really missed Zexion. He hates me, though." Though he was smiling, his eyes showed pain.

"But Xemnas…he's not," Jonathan said, turning to the British man. "I'm sorry, Anson."

"My my, how sad. I'll visit him before I leave."

Victor looked like he was going to say something, but there was a commotion from somewhere down the path. Things became very quiet.

"Please come and join us," Jonathan called out. "Axel, Zexion, why don't you come and talk? It'll be just like a family reunion." He smiled.

Slowly, Axel and Zexion emerged from the trees. Zexion's eyes were fixed on Koen.

"Zexion!" he said with a smile.

"Grandfather," Zexion acknowledged softly.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Not particularly, no. Father assured me you weren't coming back."

"Unfortunately, your father is not an intelligent man, Zexion. He thought that by moving to the Netherlands he could get away from the hell hole he locked me in. It doesn't work that way."

Though confused by this conversation, Axel's main focus was the group centered around Roxas.

"Roxas, are you all right?"

"Y—yeah. I'm okay."

"Of course he's okay," Jonathan said dismissively. "I wouldn't let anything happen to him. He needs to carry on my line."

"I'm not the only unfaithful one it seems," Victor muttered. His empty gun was still held at Jonathan's chest.

"So you admit it? Not that there's much you could say to deny it now. He looks a lot like you."

Axel looked back and forth between the two men. He knew if he made one bad move, then his…great-grandfather would kill Roxas, Jonathan or not. All he could do was see how this played out. He turned his eyes back to Zexion.

"Zexion, will you tell your father something for me? Tell him I'm sorry about his cat. I never meant for anything like that to happen. It wasn't my fault." Zexion nodded noncommittally, his attention focused on Roxas. Jonathan and Victor continued to argue.

"Victor, I slept with her after I killed you. That doesn't make it cheating. Your _virtuous_ lady had your child while both of us, and her, coincidentally, were alive. You never loved me, did you, Victor." There was a note of absolute despair in Jonathan's voice, but he sounded as if he accepted it.

Victor heard it too.

"Jonathan, I loved you."

Jonathan closed his eyes and sighed. He seemed to retreat into himself.

"Victor, don't say things you don't mean."

Roxas recognized this for what it was; stalling for time. But for what? He glanced over at Axel. On the redhead's face was a look of complete concentration. Roxas experimentally flexed his fingers. Axel was planning something.

Xemnas knew that he shouldn't follow Axel and Zexion when they left from the moment they had gotten up. He could feel instinctively that what was going to happen would only be complicated by his presence. Besides, he had no desire to see his grandfather.

"Are you sure it was wise, letting them go off alone like that?"

Xemnas turned to face his vice-principal. For a moment, he wasn't. He took a deep breath.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"What if something happens to them?" a small voice asked from behind them.

"Nothing will happen, Demyx. Besides, Zexion is smart and quick on his feet. You have faith in him, don't you?"

Demyx didn't answer.

Zexion watched as Roxas tested how much strength his body had regained and Axel formed a plan. He really hated to stop what Axel was about to put in motion, but he honestly had no choice. He just hoped that they would understand in time.

Just as Axel shifted his weight to take a step forward, Zexion opened his mouth.

"All this talk isn't getting you anywhere, Victor." Axel froze. Victor turned to look at Zexion.

"It isn't, grandson of Koen," Victor consented.

"My name is Zexion Schuyler, at your service." His eyes were cold as he stepped out away from Axel.

"Zexion, what—" Axel began, but Zexion didn't even stop to look at him as he walked crisply over to the circle.

"Just talking about killing the traitor won't get it done. And even if Mr. Williamson were to step aside, which seems very unlikely, you wouldn't be able to inflict physical harm on the boy anyway." Victor was regarding Zexion coldly.

"Then what is the point of this conversation?" he asked. His voice had a dangerous edge to it.

"I am simply offering my body to you as a vessel for your spirit. You inhabit me, you kill him, and then you may pass on. Or stay, if it pleases you." He was looking evenly at Victor. No one else seemed to exist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Axel exploded. "You bastard! Where do you get off on murdering people? Murdering your friend!" Zexion tilted his head slightly to look back at Axel. His eyes were completely unconcerned. They seemed to hold no emotion whatsoever.

Axel was furious. Roxas was crushed. He had trusted Zexion. But now, Zexion was going to kill him. Why? _Why?_

"Axel, you don't get it. This has nothing to do with Roxas. Or you. Or even me. The people who get caught in this crossfire are the ones I care about. The innocents at the school, in the world, could all be affected by this. I won't stand for it." He leveled his gaze at Roxas. "I apologize, Roxas. This had nothing to do with you, but now everything rests on your death. By dying you will save everyone. There is no other way." As he turned back to Victor, Zexion continued.

"You see, both of you have already shown yourselves to be resistant to our exorcisms. It's obvious that you cannot kill each other," he said, gesturing to Jonathan's chest, which was already healed, "and you cannot kill Roxas as you are now, Victor. All that will happen is that the fight will continue until you affect things in the physical world, such as toppling the school pillars. Someone might get injured. People may die. I cannot stand by and let that happen. One death for the safety of many." He looked sadly back down at Roxas. "I'm sorry."

Axel shot forward, intending to knock Zexion unconscious, but the blue haired man was faster. He turned and held out his right hand.

"An meinem Eid, du werdet nicht mehr bewegen2." Axel's body froze in place. But he could feel the spell weakening already; the one Zexion had cast hadn't had much force behind it. If he had been less furious, Axel would have wondered why Zexion hadn't just cast a full-bind spell on him.

Then behind him came a noise.

"I'm sorry, Axel, but I can't let you stop Zexion."

Demyx stepped slowly out of the line of trees. He didn't look at Roxas, and he hardly looked at Axel as he whispered a binding spell and laid his rosary around Axel's neck. Axel froze.

All he could do was watch as Zexion's mouth began to move.

* * *

1 "Neither can I."

2 "On my oath, you will not move."

* * *

Not too bad, eh? Don't worry, things will cheer up. I can't promise a fast update, but I'll try. Please review!


	17. When All Else Fails

This is a very...sad update. I cried while writing it. Anyway...

LET'S GO!

* * *

"Demyx." It was all Axel could say. The pain of the betrayal cut straight through him. Demyx had been Axel's friend since he had come to Oblivion, two years ago. They had roomed together—at least, until the mischief they caused became too much for the teachers—they had shared everything. Demyx couldn't meet Axel's eyes.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Demyx," Zexion chided gently, obviously ticked about being interrupted. His eyes sparkled with cold light as he tilted his head to look at Demyx over his shoulder. Demyx wouldn't meet his eyes, either. He said nothing.

"Demyx, why?" Roxas's voice was quiet. He didn't sound accusing, or angry, but Demyx flinched as if the boy was shoving sharp barbs into every inch of his skin.

"Leave him alone," Zexion snapped. "Stop talking." He turned to Victor. "Are you ready?"

The man's smile was as cold as the chill that seeped down Axel's spine.

"Yes."

Zexion began to speak.

"_Zwei Geist werden ein. Zwei Seelen kommen zusammen; deine und meiner. Gedanken verbinden und ein Anschluss ist gebildet. Wir existieren zusammen.__1__"_ Zexion whispered Victor's name to his rosary and slipped it around his neck.

Axel watched, stunned and confused. He had never heard this ritual before. Demyx's grip tightened.

There was a startling flash of light and the wind picked up. Demyx's grip slipped in surprise, and, throwing off the binding spell, Axel dashed forward. Zexion fell to his knees.

"Die, traitor!" Axel spat. He fully intended to break Zexion's neck. An exorcist was always weakest when in the midst of a ritual.

Demyx was too slow to react. He wouldn't catch Axel in time. Axel had always been faster than him.

"No, Axel!"

It was Roxas's shout that stopped him. The boy had risen from his slumped position and was intently watching as the leaves ripped from trees circled around his kneeling colleague.

"What? Roxas, he's going to kill you!" And Roxas just turned to look at him with a slightly sad smile.

"No, he's not."

---------------------

"_Roxas?"_

"_Yes, Zexion?"_

"_I'm afraid there is a matter of grave importance I must speak to you about." Zexion gestured for Roxas to come with him as he walked. They entered an empty classroom and Zexion quietly shut the door behind them. He raised an eyebrow at Roxas's nervous expression._

"_I'm not going to rape you, Roxas. Relax."_

"_I didn't—I never—" Zexion chuckled. _

"_I know." His face soon grew serious once more, as he pondered how best to broach the subject. "Roxas, there is something that you must know. I cannot—_will_ not—tell the others, as they will undoubtedly try to stop me. I will not be stopped." He took a breath._

"_Roxas, there is a chance that the cult ritual might not work." Zexion peered out the window into the bright August sunlight. The calendar to the right of the glass read 'August 20, 2008', a day before the ritual was scheduled. Roxas stopped fiddling with his cloak._

"_What? Won't work? Why not?" Zexion held up a hand to try and stop Roxas's panic attack. _

"_There have been cases where the cult ritual has failed. This may be because what the spirit is connected to isn't within the area that is being exorcised. We have no idea what Victor is connected to. We can only hope that it is something on the grounds. If not, we have to have another plan."_

_Zexion reached up to pull lightly on the blinds cord of the window._

"_I have an alternate plan." Roxas waited patiently for him to go on. When it became apparent that Zexion was not going to be free with this information, he prodded._

"_And? What is it?"_

_Zexion just stared out the window. He seemed lost in thought._

"_Zexion?"_

"_I have an alternative plan," the boy repeated, as if to himself. "It has to work."_

----------------------

Zexion's eyes turned white, all color disappearing in the brilliance of the light that seemed to shine from within. Roxas, Axel, and Demyx all watched as Zexion's eyes closed and the boy sank to the ground. Demyx took a step forward, but this time, Axel put a restraining hand on his arm.

"Wait."

With difficulty, Zexion's body (for they could no longer be sure that it was Zexion's _mind_) regained some semblance of vertical posture. Its head tilted up toward the sky and remained motionless for many minutes.

By now, not only were the three exorcists were watching; Koen Schuyler and Anson Oblivion were observing 'Zexion's' progress. Jonathan looked ill.

Roxas couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to him now that Victor had taken over Zexion.

Suddenly Zexion's hands flew to his head and a blood-curdling scream split the night. And then, as suddenly has it had started, it stopped.

Zexion began to speak. It was not German, and it was not English.

"Dutch?" Demyx whispered. "He never—he never speaks Dutch. Never. Only when…something's wrong."

"_Ga weg!__2__"_ The cry split the night. Zexion's eyes flashed their original bright blue, and he threw himself to his feet.

Demyx shot forward, away from Axel's restraint and flew to Zexion's side. He seized the boy by the shoulders to support him.

"Zex, hey Zexion. Can you hear me? Zexion!"

"Dem…yx?" It was a faint, distracted whisper, but still an answer. Demyx let out a sigh of relief.

Roxas watched from a distance, aware of Axel's arm wrapped protectively around him. He, obviously, did not believe Zexion to be sound.

The blue-haired boy, supported by the blonde, began to walk toward them. Axel's arm tightened, and Roxas felt his heart slow, almost to a stop. But Zexion smiled tiredly at him, and his fears quieted. He pulled out of Axel's hold, despite the red head's quiet protest, and moved toward Zexion. Demyx gently slipped Zexion's pure black rosary off the boy's neck. Attaching it to a thin silver chain, he began to screw the cap off of a bottle that hung around his neck. Roxas had never noticed it before.

The three spirits watched as well. Anson looked bored, Jonathan looked hesitant and vengeful, and Koen looked murderous.

"He has no right to inhabit Zexion," he muttered furiously.

Demyx leaned Zexion against a tree for support while he prepared…whatever it was that he was doing. All of them seemed distracted. It was then that Zexion struck.

------------------

Xemnas could no longer feel Zexion. He could feel and see Roxas as plain as day, but Zexion's mind and soul had become…warped. Anger and fear coursed through the bluenette's mind, and Xemnas shuttered to think about what must be going on. He longed to go to them and provided what help he could, but he knew it would be useless.

He knew what Zexion was doing. He could only hope the boy made it out alive.

-------------------

Zexion's hand pulled the knife out of his boot with surprising speed. Eyes glinting a hard brown, he pivoted on his heel and lunged toward Roxas. The knife did not waver from its course to Roxas's neck. This time, Axel was too slow.

But Demyx wasn't.

The knife slid into the blonde's shoulder and he bit his lip to keep from crying out. Instead, he slid the rosary on the silver chain into the bottle around his neck.

"Ego mos thee futurus tersus.3" The liquid in the bottle glowed slightly, and Demyx pulled the rosary free. It flashed clean and untarnished silver in the pale light cast from the moon.

Axel sprang forward and grabbed Zexion, freeing the knife from its position in Demyx's shoulder. The boy hissed in pain as he felt warm blood course down his arm, but he paid it no mind. He detached the chain and flung the rosary around Zexion's neck.

For a moment, the world stood still.

Then the screaming began. It was unlike anything Roxas had heard before, even from the other ghosts being exorcised. This sounded like torture.

Zexion began to struggle wildly to remove the rosary, but Axel had his arms pinned.

"What now?!" Axel shouted at Demyx.

"I don't know!" the blonde frantically replied.

They were both saved from doing anything when Zexion's struggles and screams came to an abrupt end. His eyes had returned to their normal blue, at least, for the moment. His face was slightly twisted in pain, but otherwise, he made to sign that anything was wrong. The rosary was burning the flesh of his neck.

The blue-haired boy grit his teeth and spoke, wrenching himself from Axel's grasp and grabbing a hold of the silver cross of his rosary.

"Mein Geist ist meine eigenen. Meine Gedanken gehören mir. Du haben keinen Ort hier. Mein Leben ist meine eigenen. Du besitzen mich nicht! Reinigen mein Geist, Körper, und Seele. Ich bin kostenlos. Vergessen ist ewig!4"

The wind picked up again, and Roxas took a step back, but couldn't avoid being knocked over. Something sharp bit into his arm. An unnatural howling began, softly at first, and then growing steadily louder until it was all that could be heard. The spirits disappeared.

And then Roxas remembered.

It was only something Zexion had mentioned in passing, months earlier when Roxas was still in the early stages of his training. It was called _Possessio quod Discidium_, or _Possession and Separation_. It was a ritual used when exorcists didn't know what a spirit was attached to. It shifted the focus of the spirit's energy to an object chosen by the exorcist. Simply put, this was the possession aspect of the ritual. The spirit is forced to connect with the object. Then, the spirit is exorcised, thus completing the separation. Unfortunately, the spell could hardly ever be used because the spirit had to be willing to have its focus moved.

In rare cases, Zexion had said, spirits had been bonded to humans; living, breathing human beings. But it was almost unheard of because in every living human, there resides a spirit. If another spirit is introduced, then they fight for dominance and the stronger spirit wins. The lesser spirit is not repelled from the body, so both reside in the human, constantly fighting for control. This struggle usually leads to death or madness. The act of bonding a spirit's focus to a living human is looked down upon as reckless and dangerous. A taboo.

When a spirit is bonded to a living human, the separation portion of the ritual must be handled with care. If botched, the one exorcising may exorcise both of the spirits out of the body, leaving the human still living, but in a state typical to that of being in a coma. They will never wake up. In rare cases, though, the spirit of the human may attempt to attach itself to something else while being exorcised, and then be shifted back into the body. Only 0.5% of the time these rituals occur does this succeed.

The only good thing that can occur from this ritual is that the spirit originally intended for exorcism will be exorcised forever.

So that was it. That was Zexion's back-up plan. To get Victor to be willing to shift his focus from whatever it was before to Zexion. Then Zexion would exorcise Victor away.

Roxas could see why Zexion hadn't told anyone else of his plan. Demyx, for sure, wouldn't have liked it and Xemnas would never stand for it. He would insist that there was another way.

But what if Zexion made a mistake?

---------------------

Xemnas felt the change immediately. The rest of the exorcists' heads snapped to the direction the howling was coming from.

"What—what is _that_?" Larxene asked, Voicing everyone's thoughts.

"That," Saix began sadly, "is what is left of Zexion."

----------------------

The room shook. Seifer could feel it tremble underneath his feet and swore.

"Can't those bastards do anything right?" he snarled. Hayner jogged over.

"What's happening? If it doesn't stop soon, were going to have to deal with panic." He was right. All around them the students who had stayed during summer break were looking around, trying to figure out what was happening. A few began to huddle together in fear, glancing at the exits. Seifer pushed his way up onto the stage.

"Everyone, please. Stay calm. We seem to be experiencing a slight earthquake, nothing to worry about. We are perfectly safe in here. Just calm down." He met Cid's eyes across the room.

_What the hell is going on?_ his steely stare demanded. Cid just shrugged and shook his head. Seifer internally growled as he hopped off the stage.

The rumbling continued. Someone shrieked.

"Shit," he muttered as he walked over to join the other five Twilight Town residents. "They better wrap this up soon. There's no way in hell we can stop a stampede."

---------------------

As the wind died down, Roxas realized that Axel and Demyx had been thrown a few feet from Zexion. They were crumpled in a heap, and Roxas rushed over to see what had happened. The ghosts slowly reappeared. Roxas didn't notice that something was off.

"Axel, Demyx! Are you okay?" The red head stirred, but Demyx didn't move. "Demyx?" Roxas reached out to place a hand on the blonde's shoulder. His shoulder.

Demyx was still bleeding. Roxas hurriedly looked for something to stop it, but there was nothing.

Then Axel sat up.

"Roxas?" Roxas's head snapped to look at his boyfriend. There was just too much going on!

"Axel? Are you okay?"

The red head nodded. "Your arm is bleeding."

Right. His arm. Roxas peered down at his left arm and saw that the shoulder of his sleeve was in tatters. Perfect.

Gripping forcefully, Roxas ripped his sleeve off. He carefully tied it around Demyx's wound. He wasn't sure if it would help, but it certainly couldn't hurt. He moved to maneuver Demyx into a more comfortable position, but the boy shot up.

"Zexion!" he gasped and clutched his shoulder. He nearly fell from loss of blood and exhaustion. But he forced himself up. "_Zexion!_"

The three boys all turned to where Zexion lay. All around him was bare dirt. All of the grass had been ripped up and there were leaves strewn everywhere.

"_Zexion!_" Demyx called brokenly.

Koen hovered above the boy's prone figure, the sadness on his face evident.

"No," Roxas whispered.

Demyx pushed himself into a standing position. Once more he nearly fell, but he stumbled over to his love. Axel and Roxas were too shocked to move. Roxas had been so sure that Zexion wouldn't make a mistake.

"Zexion…" Demyx's tears streaked his face as he collapsed next to his boyfriend. "Dammit, Zexion, get up." Demyx shoved Zexion's shoulder. "Get up!"

The spirits watched sadly as Demyx vainly tried to rouse his friend.

Zexion's previously fully silver rosary slipped out of the front of his robe. Two of the beads were black. Demyx continued to try and wake his lover.

Eyes open, Zexion didn't move.

* * *

1 "Two spirits become one. Two souls come together; yours and mine. Thoughts join and a link is formed. We exist together."

2 "_Leave!_"

3 "I will thee to be clean."

4 "My mind is my own. My thoughts belong to me. You have no place here. My life is my own. You do not own me! Cleanse my spirit, body, and soul. I am free. Oblivion is eternal!"

* * *

Oh dear. Poor Zexion. T_T Why do I torture those I love? Anyway, the next chapter is in production, so stay tuned!

And, as always, REVIEW!


	18. AN: I Need Help!

I need help! Everyone who speaks Spanish, this is your call to action! …Please. I need to translate this paragraph into Spanish:

"A red rose for my love who fate tore away. A black rose for his death and pain on this day. May his spirit travel safely to where it at last will rest. Be at peace with that that took him and pass the final test. While he is no longer with me, my love for him goes on. I will follow quickly to where we both belong."

And, if you could translate this as well: "Please, don't. He wouldn't want this."

ANY help will be appreciated. My laptop translator sucks, and I can't post the next chapter without these translated. ):

PLEASE! And thank you. :D

Faithfully yours, and frustrated at her lack of multilingual abilities,

Tube:3


	19. The Ceremony of Souls

Yes, I know this is a short chapter. But it is also a quick update! The next one will be less depressing, I promise.

I'm so mean to Demyx!

**This chapter is dedicated to NightRaven13 for the Spanish translation. Thank you so much!**

* * *

Roxas couldn't believe it. He watched numbly as Demyx cried. Axel was shaking, he realized belatedly. He wrapped an arm around Axel's waist.

By now, the spirits had disappeared. Koen's eyes had lost all anger and now bore a look of intense pain. If ghosts could cry, he would have. There was a rustle in the brush of to Roxas's right as the other exorcists dashed out of the woods.

"We got here as fast as we could," Saix said. "We started off as soon as we realized something was wrong." Xemnas was silent.

"What's going on?" Larxene asked. She saw Demyx hunched over a ways off. "What happened? Hey," she looked around, "where's Zexion?"

Demyx let out a heart-wrenching sob.

Xemnas walked quietly over as all of the exorcists straightened up, watching curiously. He laid a hand on Demyx's shoulder.

"Demyx," he said softly. "Demyx, you're bleeding."

"I don't care," the blonde answered shortly. He held his boyfriend's body tighter. "Zexion, please. This isn't funny anymore."

Xemnas's hand involuntarily clenched.

"What's going on?" Larxene asked again, softer. Crouching down to close Zexion's eyes and giving Demyx's shoulder one last squeeze, Xemnas turned to face his exorcists.

"Zexion performed a _Possessio quod Discidium_, and—" He stopped. Scrubbing a hand over his eyes, he took and deep breath. "And he—" He couldn't say it.

The rest of them knew, anyway.

"No…" Larxene breathed.

"Nein!" Marluxia squeezed his eyes shut, unashamed of the tears. One by one, the exorcists broke down. They had lost people before, yes, but never one so…close.

"Zexion…" Demyx whispered. "Get up. Please."

But Zexion didn't move.

"All right, everyone," Xemnas began. "Victor is gone. And while we have lost one of our own," he paused for a steadying breath, "he did it so that everyone else would be safe. We should honor him for that." There were murmurs of agreement.

"Xigbar, Xaldin," Saix said, "get Zexion."

"No," Demyx said definitively. "I've got him." And Demyx gently slung Zexion over his shoulder. He started toward the school.

Xemnas didn't stop him.

---------------------

The residents of Twilight Town were sympathetic to the loss of Zexion. But they were also exhausted. Out of form, Xemnas offered—rather, _commanded_—that they board at the school. He offered them no explanation of Zexion's death, just said that the school was safe. He left with that.

"Well," Cid started, "I guess we have no choice. We've been _ordered_ to stay the night."

"Good," Naminé sighed. "I want to participate in the Ceremony of Souls." Naminé was referring to the right of the dead the exorcists performed. And while Zexion was not technically dead, they would be performing it for him tonight.

Naminé wanted to be there to support Demyx.

Cid nodded, and the atmosphere grew sad. To break the tension, Seifer spoke.

"Well, I think it's time we turned in. Come on, brat." He tugged Hayner along after him as he disappeared into the darkened doorway.

One by one, the group disappeared until only Naminé remained out on the lawn. She stared up at the stars for a long while. Breathing in deep, she closed her eyes.

"Zexion, you are gone. Why do I still feel you?"

-----------------------

The line was grim and silent. They stood in order of joining, Xemnas at the head. Next to him stood Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexeaus, Saix, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, and finally, Roxas. They left a space where Zexion would have stood. On the other side on the table Zexion was laid out on stood Naminé. The room was lit by only one candle at the head of the table.

Everything was silent.

Then Demyx stepped out of his place next to Axel and walked to the table. He removed two roses from his cloak: one black and one red. He began to speak in his native tongue, the Spanish flowing smoothly, but sadly.

"Una rosa roja para mi amor que el destino me arrebato. Una rosa negra por su muerte y el dolor en este dia. Que su espiritu viaje con seguridad adonde descansara en paz por ultima vez. Esten en paz con lo que se lo llevo y pasen el ultimo examen. Aunque el ya no esta conmigo, mi amor por el sigue. Yo lo siguere pronto para estar adonde nosotros pertenecemos.1"

Naminé gasped and her head shot up. She knew full well what Demyx meant.

"Demyx. Por favor, no. El no quisiera esto.2"

Demyx sighed and laid his hand on Zexion's chest. He felt his love's heart beat softly and slowly on. His shoulders tensed as he bit back a sob. He turned and went back to the line.

One after another, the remaining exorcists approached the table. Each one laid a black rose on Zexion's unmoving body and whispered something in their own native tongue. This was to insure that the spirit would find peace no matter where he ended up.

"Forever in our hearts," Xemnas muttered.

"Je suis désolé.3" Xigbar whispered.

"Be at peace," Xaldin said.

"You'll be fine, kid," Vexen assured.

"You really know how to leave with a bang," Lexeaus sighed.

"You will be thought of," Saix said.

"Ja ne, Zexion-kun.4" Axel patted Zexion's hand sadly.

"до свидания.5" Luxord closed his eyes.

"Wir verfehlen Sie.6" Marluxia bowed his head.

"Il est difficile de croire que tu es parti,7" Larxene breathed.

Roxas approached the table last. For a long time, he just stood there. Finally, he spoke.

"out était de ma faute. Je suis désolé. Je te prie de me pardonner.8" He bowed low and rejoined the line. The ceremony went late into the night, each exorcist sharing stories about time spent with Zexion. Demyx remained quiet, just listening. It wasn't long before he retired to bed.

* * *

1 "A red rose for my love that fate has torn away. A black rose for his death and pain upon this day. May his spirit travel safely to where it at last will rest. Be at peace with that that took him and pass the final test. While he is no longer with me, my love for him goes on. I will follow quickly to where we both belong."

2 "Demyx. Please, no. He wouldn't want that."

3 "I'm sorry."

4 "See you, Zexion."

5 "Goodbye."

6 "We miss you."

7 "It's hard to believe that you're gone."

8 It was all my fault. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

* * *

Oh dear. How sad. The next one gets better, I promise! Also, a big, BIG thank you to Pocket Rainbow, not only for the lovely comment, but the translation fix as well. Thanks so much!!!!!

**Please review!**


	20. Fruit Bats!

This is the last chapter, besides the epilogue. It was a fun run, everyone, but all good things must end. So as before, all previous disclaimers apply.

On with the fic!

* * *

It had been a month. Zexion's body had not been buried, as it still lived, but it had been moved into a room away from the bustle of students. Things continued on as they had before; there were still ghosts to exorcise, and still work to be done. The new school year began and the students returned. Everything was as normal as could be when you had a huge hole in your chest where your heart should've been.

Axel and Roxas were dating in earnest now. At night, Axel held Roxas while the boy cried in his sleep. The worst part was that Axel knew there was nothing he could do to make it better.

Xemnas and Saix had also begun seeing each other, but supposedly no one was supposed to know. Xemnas still caught himself asking for Zexion's input while researching. He would stop, close his mouth, and turn back to his book and Saix wouldn't mention it.

Xigbar, Xaldin, and Lexeaus go into more trouble than they ever had before because Zexion was no longer there to tell them when enough was enough and to quit while they were ahead.

Though Marluxia never said it aloud, Larxene knew he loved her. Neither one had ever been in a serious relationship before; so both were unsure how to proceed. At night when they were alone, each would silently wish that Zexion was there to give them advice.

Luxord didn't know what to do with himself. When he had been unable to sleep before, he would play cards with Zexion. The boy always beat him, but it was good company nevertheless. Luxord had always wondered exactly when the boy slept, if he ever did. Now he spent time hoping the Zexion would wake up.

Vexen had no one to talk to. Yes, it was true that he had 11 other very good friends, but Zexion had always listened the best. Vexen would outline his plans, whether they be for a homework schedule or jokingly for world domination, and Zexion had always been there to critique and give advice on how best to proceed. As the man flicked his blonde hair over his shoulder, he had a feeling that all of his plans from now on wouldn't go too well.

Demyx was inconsolable. He wandered the halls listlessly, lifelessly, and didn't attend classes anymore. Xemnas didn't force him, just let him be. There was nothing he could say. Demyx visited Zexion every day, talking to him as if he were still listening. And who were the rest of them to say he wasn't? The rest of the time, Demyx resided in the library, one of Zexion's favorite places. He often thought he could hear Zexion talking to him and he would get up to find him, only to realize that Zexion was gone. Gone. And always would be. He would start to talk to Zexion, only to remember that Zexion wasn't there. He didn't think that he would ever stop; that it would ever sink in. So he stayed in the library and tried to forget.

And it was there that it happened.

-------------------------

The silence of the library grated on Demyx's nerves. He was not usually a quiet person, but the loss of Zexion had changed something in him. The rest of the exorcists could feel it, too. Nonetheless, quiet still aggravated Demyx. It reminded him too much of Zexion. But that was why he was here, wasn't it?

He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the reference section, posing a great inconvenience to anyone who tried to pass. The usually helpful and agreeable Demyx couldn't bring himself to care.

"Demyx, could you pass me that book?" The voice startled Demyx out of his haze.

"Sure, Zexion," he replied, automatically reaching toward the shelf. Then he stopped and spun around. "_Zexion!?_"

Standing about three feet behind him, the blue-haired boy regarded Demyx coolly.

"Yes. What is it now, Demyx? Please, the book if you wouldn't mind." Demyx just stood there dumbly.

Zexion let out an aggravated sigh. "You know what, I'll get it myself." And with that, he walked right through Demyx to the shelf behind him.

Demyx turned and ran out of the library.

-----------------------

"Xemnas! _Xemnas!_" Demyx almost broke down the door to the office in his haste to talk to the principal. Xemnas was sitting behind his desk with a student in the chair across from him. He was obviously punishing said student, but looked up when Demyx exploded into the room.

"Yes? For God's sake, Demyx, what is so important?"

"I found Zexion!"

A moment of silence. Xemnas's face began to gain a look of sadness and…pity. Demyx growled.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy. Zexion is here. His spirit is in the library!" Xemnas stood up so fast his chair toppled over. He looked briefly at the student in his office chair and muttered a "You're dismissed, but I'm not done with you yet," and strode over to the loudspeaker.

"_Will all members of the Organization please report to the library. This is non-negotiable. All members of the Organization to the library at once._"

The click echoed through the hallways as nine chairs scraped on tile and nine pairs of feet ran to the library.

----------------------

Zexion's ghost was indeed in the library. The exorcists broke down into hysteric and disbelieving laughter when the spirit strode purposefully by.

"It really figures that Zexion would haunt the library," Axel giggled, wiping tears from his eyes. "It really just fucking figures."

"Now we can rejoin his spirit and his body!" Demyx announced joyfully. Xemnas smiled, but his smile soon faded.

"There is one problem," he began, and everyone was suddenly serious and listening carefully. "Zexion is an unaware spirit. We need to find his focus. Does anyone have any idea what it might be?"

"Well, it's obviously a book," Larxene stated. "We are in a library, and this is Zexion we're talking about."

"There are over 3,000 books in this library. And Zexion may not be attached to an entire book. He may simply be focused on a single page," Saix informed them. "Where do we start?"

Silence fell as the exorcists pondered the gargantuan task that lay before them.

"We start," Demyx said suddenly, "with fruit bats."

------------------------

There were a total of 27 books on fruit bats in the library of Oblivion Heights. How Demyx knew where to start was still a mystery, but he did know Zexion the best, so the others trusted his judgment.

"Are we looking for a particular book?" Xigbar asked, scanning the shelves.

"Yes," Demyx replied distractedly. He stood in front of the shelf where he had first seen Zexion's spirit appear. "A very special book."

Reaching out, Demyx pulled a thick book off the ledge. Its spine read _The Short-Tailed Fruit Bat: A Study in Plant-Animal Interactions_ by Theodore H. Fleming.

"Why that one?" Roxas asked in confusion.

Demyx didn't seem to hear him. Zexion's spirit walked right past him and down another aisle without even looking up.

"I don't think the entire book is his focus," Xaldin said.

"No," Demyx agreed. "It's what's inside."

Demyx brought the book over to an empty table and sat down. He gently flipped the book open to page 357. There, carefully tucked between the pages was a note that read: _Zexion, will you marry me?_ Demyx sighed.

"He said no."

"What?" Axel said. "When was this? You never told me you were planning to propose!" Demyx chuckled.

"This was a year and a half ago. Before we started dating."

"That would explain why he turned you down."

"He said no, he wouldn't marry me, but he wouldn't mind getting coffee." Demyx smiled fondly and removed the paper.

The next time Zexion appeared, Demyx called out to him.

"Zexion! Hey, Zexy!"

"Yes, what is it, Demyx?" he seemed to notice everyone else. "What are you all doing here? Axel, you never come to the library!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Not true!" Axel protested. "I come to the library…a lot."

"When was the last time?" Zexion asked.

"Right after you died."

Zexion stopped talking. He stayed perfectly still. Then he began to examine himself.

"Died? I'm dead?" He inspected his hands closely. "Interesting. No wonder you all looked so shocked to see me."

"Your body still lives," Xemnas said, catching the blue-haired man's attention.

"Really? What exactly happened to me?"

"A failed _Possessio quod Discidium_. You exorcised yourself. But, not so much of a failure, I see."

"Have you taken good care of my body?"

"Yes. Interested in becoming corporeal?"

---------------------

The ritual went well. Since Zexion was being introduced to an focus that currently had no soul, there were no complications. Demyx cried when Zexion began to stir. He didn't leave his boyfriend's side for the entire night.

The rest of the exorcists left to give them some privacy, and Axel pulled Roxas aside.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Rox?"

"Yeah. Sure, Axel." The red head led Roxas out on the one of the school's balconies, overlooking the extensive grounds. Roxas considered making a joke that he could see his house from there, but something about Axel's face stopped him.

Axel leaned against the railing. He took a deep breath.

"Roxas, I know we've only been going out for a few months, and I'm sorry about this." He took another fortifying breath. Roxas's heart sank into the floor.

'_He's breaking up with me,'_ he thought. He was sure that was what is was. '_How cliché.'_ He wanted to cry.

"This might seem a bit sudden to you, and I know you're only sixteen, but…" Axel fiddled with something in his pocket. He dropped to one knee.

Roxas's heart stopped.

"Roxas Leal Dereveau, will you marry me?"

* * *

The end. Except for the epilogue, of course. But then, it's goodbye. How sad. I will miss all of you. D': Please review. It will mean so much to me.

* * *


	21. Epilogue: A New Start

Here it is folks, the last update. How sad. :'( But it was a good run, and I had fun. I got more reviews than I ever thought I would, and so much support from everyone. Thank you all. So here it is, for one last time.

**SMACK IT!**

* * *

Twelve figures stood in a line across the front lawn of Oblivion Heights Boarding School for Gifted Children. They stood quite still, and all was silent. All of their heads turned as the front doors of the school opened and a single black-robed figure strode out to meet them.

No one moved for a long moment.

"Hello," came the voice from underneath the hood. The man's face—for the voice was obviously male—was obscured and many found themselves curious as to what this powerful man looked like. "I'd like to take this time to welcome you all to Oblivion Heights. I hope you will enjoy your time spent here." He paused, taking in the faces of the new students. "Your training will begin tomorrow. Be up on time."

As he turned to go, the light flashed off the ring he wore on the fourth finger of his left hand. One of the girls gasped.

"You're engaged?" she asked before she could stop herself. The robed man's shoulder's stiffened. He slowly turned around.

She waited nervously to receive her punishment. What she did not expect was for him to start laughing. It started out as a quiet chuckle and grew louder. He reached up and pulled off his hood.

Mirth danced in his startling blue eyes as the last rays of the summer sun turned his hair a bright gold.

"Yes." She held back another gasp. This boy couldn't be much older than the rest of them, and he was already engaged? The rest of them were shocked at how young the boy was as well. They thought they had been speaking to the headmaster!

"Who is it?" she asked politely.

"Oh, don't worry," he said with a cryptic smile. "You'll meet him soon enough."

Suddenly the door burst open and out stepped another man. This one had shocking green eyes and spiked bright red hair.

"Roxas!" the man called. "Will you hurry it up? Mansex isn't getting any younger!" The red head's eyes shown with amusement as Roxas began to laugh again.

"Coming, Axel!" he shouted, and turned back to the applicants. "As I was saying, your training begins tomorrow. It will be tough, and it will be frustrating. There will be times when you want to quit. Stay with it until the end and keep your head." He paused, eyes roving over their faces to make sure they understood.

Axel watched from the doorway as Roxas connected with every one of them, and wondered when his fiancé had grown up so fast. Less than two years ago, he had been the one looking out for Roxas. Now Roxas had his own new exorcists to train. Where had the years gone?

One by one, Axel was joined by the rest of the Organization, who fell in seamlessly beside him in order of acceptance. They formed a wall of hooded figures as Roxas turned around and headed toward the school, gesturing for the trainees to follow him. When they reached the foot of the stairs, the applicants stopped, and Roxas scaled the stone steps until he was standing two steps down from the line.

"We are the Organization. Those who pass the tests will join us in history, continuing the tradition for many years to come. You will guard the new exorcists and keep the old ways alive. History will belong to you."

Pride welled up in the heart of every student standing there on the walkway. Axel had to hand it to the kid; he gave one heck of an inspiring speech. But he wasn't done yet.

"Today you stand before the world as the next generation of saviors. You will allow the spirits of the tormented to rest and bring peace to those you encounter here on Earth. You hold the balance of life in your hands. Always remember that today you stand for something. Today you must remember the words of the exorcist's creed and hold them dear. These words you can never forget."

He took a breath, and smiled. The twelve figures above him turned and filed orderly into the school, leaving only Roxas and the new exorcists outside. Looking them over one last time, Roxas turned and scaled the steps. He paused in the doorway and ran a loving hand over the frame. He remembered his first day at this school well. He turned once more to flash a smile at the twelve below him, and strode into the welcoming darkness of the main entrance hall. As the door began to close behind him and the darkness swallowed him up, three words rang out of the silence.

"Vergessen ist ewig."

The door fell shut.

* * *

Well now, how about that? The fabulous end to a fabulous experience. But is it really the end? NO!

Believe it or not, Oblivion isn't over yet. I haven't had enough fun with this universe yet, so I'm giving it another shot. I'm writing back stories for every exorcist, and maybe even those from Twilight Town. Not only will this be fun, but it will be an excellent opportunity for me to explore writing characters I never have before.

I will need your support and patience. These back stories will take a lot of researching to complete, so anything ANYONE could tell me about:

**1970-90's England/1980-2008's Japan  
1990's Netherlands  
1990's Canada  
1990's France  
1990's Africa  
1990's Ireland  
1990's Russia  
1990's Mexico/Spain (this one depends on which history I like better and which I find more on)  
1990's Germany**

would be greatly appreciated. If you do decided to help (and I'm **_NOT_** saying, "Go out and do research for me!", I'm saying "If you happen to know any history of these off the top of your head...") than please review/PM me and include what history you are helping with.

For example:

PM from (insert name here)

1990's Japan.

(Insert info here).

Thank you, thank you, thank you all for staying with this story for so long. There are no words for me to be able to tell you just how grateful I am. Really, it's impossible. Thank you for your unending support.

I have just one more question. Would you all prefer me to post the back stories in this story? (i.e Oblivion is Eternal Chapter 22: Xemnas story) or would you prefer I start a whole NEW story (i.e The History Chapter 1: Xemnas). It's up to you, but personally I think it would be easier to just post them here. That way I don't have to write a summary that says "These are just back stories. go read Oblivion to understand." But as in all fair democracies, majority rules, so your vote will count.

And so ends the longest AN ever,

Tube:3

P.S. Translators for Russian, French, Japanese, German, Dutch, and African are all very welcome. And thank you, NightRaven13, for agreeing to be my Spanish translator!

Until then, everyone. Tube out.


End file.
